Learning curve for lung area to head circumference ratio measurement in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the learning curve for the fetal lung area to head circumference ratio (LHR) calculation in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH).

METHODS

Three trainees with the theoretical knowledge, but without prior experience in the LHR measurement, were selected. Each trainee and one experienced examiner measured the observed to expected (O/E)-LHR in the lung contralateral to the side of the hernia by two methods-manual tracing of lung borders and multiplication of the longest diameters-in a cohort of 95 consecutive CDH fetuses. The average difference between the three trainees and the expert in the O/E-LHR measurement was calculated. A difference below 10% was considered to indicate an accurate measurement. The average learning curve was delineated using cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM).

RESULTS

The CUSUM plots demonstrate that the learning curve was achieved by 77 and 72 tests performed for the area obtained by the manual-tracing and multiplication-of-the-longest-diameter methods, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The minimum number of scans required for an inexperienced trainee to become competent in examining the LHR is on average 70.