Reliability and reproducibility of the method of assessment of midpalatal suture maturation: A tomographic study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess reliability and reproducibility of the individual assessment of midpalatal suture maturation in computed tomography among orthodontists and radiologists for potential diagnosis application. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty axial slices from cone-beam computed tomography and multi-slice CT scans of patients aged between 11 and 21 years old (33 females and 27 males) were selected. For the investigation of reliability and reproducibility of the method, two groups of examiners were established. The first group consisted of 11 orthodontists and the second consisted of 10 radiologists. Each group examined the images and performed individual assessment of the midpalatal suture maturation method twice within an interval of 21 days. During the first and second analyses, the sequence of images was randomized to reduce potential bias. Weighted Cohen's kappa was performed to assess inter- and intra-examiners' agreement. The percentage of perfect agreement and the number of stages apart for each disagreement were calculated. The significance level was P < .05. RESULTS: The overall inter-examiner agreement was satisfactory in the first (kappaw: 0.37) and the second (kappaw: 0.34) analyses. Intra-examiner agreement outcomes were similar between orthodontists (kappaw: 0.44) and radiologists (kappaw: 0.41). The percentage of perfect agreement was 43.2%. CONCLUSIONS: The method for individual assessment of midpalatal suture maturation revealed potential reliability and reproducibility. However, the agreement rate observed in the present study was not high enough for a method designed for routine clinical applications.