Di Matteo Andrea, Moscioni Erica, Lommano Maria Giovanna, Cipolletta Edoardo, Smerilli Gianluca, Farah Sonia, Airoldi Carla, Aydin Sibel Zehra, Becciolini Andrea, Bonfiglioli Karina, Carotti Marina, Carrara Greta, Cazenave Tomas, Corradini Davide, Cosatti Micaela Ana, de Agustin Juan Josè, Destro Castaniti Giulia Maria, Di Carlo Marco, Di Donato Eleonora, Di Geso Luca, Elliott Ashley, Fodor Daniela, Francioso Francesca, Gabba Alessandra, Hernández-Díaz Cristina, Horvath Rudolf, Hurnakova Jana, Jesus Diogo, Marin Josefina, Martire Maria Victoria, Mashadi Mirza Riccardo, Massarotti Marco, Musca Alice Andreea, Nair Jagdish, Okano Tadashi, Papalopoulos Ioannis, Rosa Javier, Rosemffet Marcos, Rovisco João, Rozza Davide, Salaffi Fausto, Scioscia Crescenzio, Scirè Carlo Alberto, Tamas Maria-Magdalena, Tanimura Shun, Ventura-Rios Lucio, Villota-Eraso Catalina, Villota Orlando, Voulgari Paraskevi V, Vreju Florentin Ananu, Vukatana Gentiana, Hereter Johana Zacariaz, Zanetti Anna, Grassi Walter, Filippucci Emilio
Rheumatology Unit, Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences, "Carlo Urbani" Hospital, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Jan 17;9:1090468. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1090468. eCollection 2022.
To investigate the inter/intra-reliability of ultrasound (US) muscle echogenicity in patients with rheumatic diseases.
Forty-two rheumatologists and 2 radiologists from 13 countries were asked to assess US muscle echogenicity of quadriceps muscle in 80 static images and 20 clips from 64 patients with different rheumatic diseases and 8 healthy subjects. Two visual scales were evaluated, a visual semi-quantitative scale (0-3) and a continuous quantitative measurement ("VAS echogenicity," 0-100). The same assessment was repeated to calculate intra-observer reliability. US muscle echogenicity was also calculated by an independent research assistant using a software for the analysis of scientific images (ImageJ). Inter and intra reliabilities were assessed by means of prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted Kappa (PABAK), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlations through Kendall's Tau and Pearson's Rho coefficients.
The semi-quantitative scale showed a moderate inter-reliability [PABAK = 0.58 (0.57-0.59)] and a substantial intra-reliability [PABAK = 0.71 (0.68-0.73)]. The lowest inter and intra-reliability results were obtained for the intermediate grades (i.e., grade 1 and 2) of the semi-quantitative scale. "VAS echogenicity" showed a high reliability both in the inter-observer [ICC = 0.80 (0.75-0.85)] and intra-observer [ICC = 0.88 (0.88-0.89)] evaluations. A substantial association was found between the participants assessment of the semi-quantitative scale and "VAS echogenicity" [ICC = 0.52 (0.50-0.54)]. The correlation between these two visual scales and ImageJ analysis was high (tau = 0.76 and rho = 0.89, respectively).
The results of this large, multicenter study highlighted the overall good inter and intra-reliability of the US assessment of muscle echogenicity in patients with different rheumatic diseases.
研究超声（US）对风湿性疾病患者肌肉回声的组间/组内可靠性。
邀请来自13个国家的42名风湿病学家和2名放射科医生，对64例不同风湿性疾病患者和8名健康受试者的股四头肌超声肌肉回声进行评估，评估80张静态图像和20个视频片段。评估了两种视觉量表，一种视觉半定量量表（0 - 3）和一种连续定量测量（“VAS回声”，0 - 100）。重复相同评估以计算观察者内可靠性。一名独立研究助理还使用科学图像分析软件（ImageJ）计算超声肌肉回声。通过患病率调整偏差调整卡帕（PABAK）、组内相关系数（ICC）以及通过肯德尔tau系数和皮尔逊相关系数进行相关性分析来评估组间和组内可靠性。
半定量量表显示出中等组间可靠性[PABAK = 0.58（0.57 - 0.59）]和较高组内可靠性[PABAK = 0.71（0.68 - 0.73）]。半定量量表中间等级（即1级和2级）的组间和组内可靠性结果最低。“VAS回声”在观察者间[ICC = 0.80（0.75 - 0.85）]和观察者内[ICC = 0.88（0.88 - 0.89）]评估中均显示出高可靠性。在参与者对半定量量表的评估与“VAS回声”之间发现了显著相关性[ICC = 0.52（0.50 - 0.54）]。这两种视觉量表与ImageJ分析之间的相关性很高（分别为tau = 0.76和rho = 0.89）。
这项大型多中心研究的结果突出了超声评估不同风湿性疾病患者肌肉回声在组间和组内的总体良好可靠性。
