Chest Computed Tomography-Based Scoring of Thoracic Sarcoidosis: Inter-rater Reliability of CT Abnormalities.

PURPOSE

To determine inter-rater reliability of sarcoidosis-related computed tomography (CT) findings that can be used for scoring of thoracic sarcoidosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

CT images of 51 patients with sarcoidosis were scored by five chest radiologists for various abnormal CT findings (22 in total) encountered in thoracic sarcoidosis. Using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis, inter-rater reliability was analysed and reported according to the Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS) criteria. A pre-specified sub-analysis was performed to investigate the effect of training. Scoring was trained in a distinct set of 15 scans in which all abnormal CT findings were represented.

RESULTS

Median age of the 51 patients (36 men, 70%) was 43 years (range 26 - 64 years). All radiographic stages were present in this group. ICC ranged from 0.91 for honeycombing to 0.11 for nodular margin (sharp versus ill-defined). The ICC was above 0.60 in 13 of the 22 abnormal findings. Sub-analysis for the best-trained observers demonstrated an ICC improvement for all abnormal findings and values above 0.60 for 16 of the 22 abnormalities.

CONCLUSIONS

In our cohort, reliability between raters was acceptable for 16 thoracic sarcoidosis-related abnormal CT findings.

KEY POINTS

• Thoracic sarcoidosis is common; knowledge on reliability of CT scoring is limited. • Scoring CT abnormalities in pulmonary sarcoidosis can achieve good inter-rater agreement. • CT scoring validation in thoracic sarcoidosis is important for diagnostic and prognostic studies.