Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Br J Radiol. 2012 Sep;85(1017):e603-8. doi: 10.1259/bjr/75768386.
The objective of this study was to compare the sensitivity of detection of lung nodules on low-dose screening CT images between radiologists and technologists.
11 radiologists and 10 technologists read the low-dose screening CT images of 78 subjects. On images with a slice thickness of 5 mm, there were 60 lung nodules that were ≥5 mm in diameter: 26 nodules with pure ground-glass opacity (GGO), 7 nodules with mixed ground-glass opacity (GGO with a solid component) and 27 solid nodules. On images with a slice thickness of 2 mm, 69 lung nodules were ≥5 mm in diameter: 35 pure GGOs, 7 mixed GGOs and 27 solid nodules. The 21 observers read screening CT images of 5-mm slice thickness at first; then, 6 months later, they read screening CT images of 2-mm slice thickness from the 78 subjects.
The differences in the mean sensitivities of detection of the pure GGOs, mixed GGOs and solid nodules between radiologists and technologists were not statistically significant, except for the case of solid nodules; the p-values of the differences for pure GGOs, mixed GGOs and solid nodules on the CT images with 5-mm slice thickness were 0.095, 0.461 and 0.005, respectively, and the corresponding p-values on CT images of 2-mm slice thickness were 0.971, 0.722 and 0.0037, respectively.
Well-trained technologists may contribute to the detection of pure and mixed GGOs ≥5 mm in diameter on low-dose screening CT images.
本研究旨在比较放射科医生和技术员在低剂量筛查 CT 图像上检测肺结节的灵敏度。
11 名放射科医生和 10 名技术员阅读了 78 例患者的低剂量筛查 CT 图像。在 5mm 层厚的图像上，有 60 个直径≥5mm 的肺结节：26 个纯磨玻璃密度结节（纯 GGO），7 个混合磨玻璃密度结节（有实性成分的混合 GGO）和 27 个实性结节。在 2mm 层厚的图像上，有 69 个直径≥5mm 的肺结节：35 个纯 GGO，7 个混合 GGO 和 27 个实性结节。21 名观察者首先阅读 5mm 层厚的筛查 CT 图像；6 个月后，他们阅读了来自 78 例患者的 2mm 层厚的筛查 CT 图像。
放射科医生和技术员在检测纯 GGO、混合 GGO 和实性结节的平均灵敏度方面存在差异，但无统计学意义，除了实性结节的情况；5mm 层厚 CT 图像上纯 GGO、混合 GGO 和实性结节的差异 p 值分别为 0.095、0.461 和 0.005，相应的 2mm 层厚 CT 图像的 p 值分别为 0.971、0.722 和 0.0037。
经过良好培训的技术员可能有助于在低剂量筛查 CT 图像上检测直径≥5mm 的纯 GGO 和混合 GGO。
