DETECTION OF HEART CALCIFICATION WITH ELECTRON-BEAM CT - INTEROBSERVER AND INTRAOBSERVER RELIABILITY FOR SCORING QUANTIFICATION

PURPOSE: To assess interobserver and intraobserver reliability of three quantitative measures of coronary artery calcium burden: calcium ''score,'' number of calcified lesions, and calcified area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electron beam computed tomographic (CT) scanning was used in a series of 25 patients to detect coronary artery calcification. Scan results were reviewed for quality by a radiologist, then scored by two radiologic technologists and by another radiologist. RESULTS: Many interobserver and intraobserver disagreements were noted on a lesion-by-lesion basis. Since most disagreements involved very small lesions, however, their impact was negligible for all three measures of calcium burden. CONCLUSION: It is not useful for more than one observer to independently score a single CT examination obtained to detect cardiac calcification, even when the arteries are heavily calcified.