Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound of the Chest in Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Study for Assessment of Added Diagnostic Value.
J Ultrasound Med
; 43(4): 697-711, 2024 Apr.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38189176
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To determine the added diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in pediatric chest abnormalities by comparing interpretation of CEUS studies and confidence level to conventional US studies.METHODS:
CEUS studies in patients with a variety of clinically suspected chest abnormalities performed between 2016 and 2020 were reviewed and compared to same-day conventional US studies. Examinations were independently interpreted by 4 radiologists blinded to clinical and other imaging data. Rater confidence was classified as low, moderate, or high. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by comparing image interpretation to patient outcome as the ground truth. Interobserver agreement was also assessed.RESULTS:
Sixteen patients (10 male) with 18 CEUS studies were included. Median rater agreement with ground truth was significantly higher for CEUS (100%) than conventional US (50%; P = .004). Median rater confidence was high (3.0) for CEUS, and low-moderate (1.5) for conventional US (P < .001). CEUS sensitivity (54.6-81.8%) and specificity (63.4-100.0%) were greater than conventional US (45.5-72.7% and 12.5-63.5%, respectively). CEUS false positives (0-4) and false negatives (2-5) were fewer than conventional US (4-7 and 3-6, respectively). Except for one rater pair where agreement was substantial (κ = .78, P < .01), inter-rater agreement for CEUS for all other rater pairs was nonsignificant (κ = .25-0.51, P ≥ .07). Agreement for conventional US was moderate and statistically significant for 3 rater pairs (κ = .55-0.78) and nonsignificant for the remaining 3 rater pairs (P ≥ .06).CONCLUSIONS:
CEUS adds diagnostic value to the assessment of a variety of chest abnormalities. The data support further evaluation of the role of CEUS as a non-invasive, problem-solving technique in children.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Image Enhancement
/
Contrast Media
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Ultrasound Med
/
J. ultrasound med
/
Journal of ultrasound in medicine
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States
Country of publication:
United kingdom