The aim of this study was to evaluate the inter- and intraobserver variability and
to find differences in diagnostic safety between digital and analog technique in diagnostic
zones around hip prostheses. In 80 patients who had had a total hip replacement (THR)
for more than 2 years, a conventional image and a digital image were taken. Gruen's
model of seven distinct regions of interest was used for evaluations. Five experienced
radiologists observed the seven regions and noted in a protocol the following distances:
stem–cement; cement–bone; and stem–bone. All images were printed on hard copies and
were read twice. Weighted kappa, κw, analyses were used. The two most frequently loosening regions, stem–cement region
1 and cement–bone region 7, were closely analyzed. In region 1, the five observers
had an agreement of 86.75–97.92% between analog and digital images in stem–cement,
which is a varied κw 0.29–0.71. For cement–bone region 7, an agreement of 87.21–90.45% was found, which
is a varied κw of 0.48–0.58. All the kappa values differ significantly from nil. The result shows
that digital technique is as good as analog radiographs for diagnosing possible loosening
of hip prostheses.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Clinical ImagingAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 05, 2004
Identification
Copyright
© 2004 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
