Intra- inter-observer repeatability in liver computed tomography volumetry in patients undergoing radioembolization...

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Interventional Radiology

Background:

• Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) is crucial for Trans-Arterial Radio Embolization (TARE) treatment planning.
• Volumetric data, or clinical target volumes (CTVs), derived from MDCT are essential for safe and effective TARE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if radiographers can achieve the same precision as interventional radiologists in calculating CTVs for TARE simulation.
• To assess the accuracy and reproducibility of radiographer-led CTV calculations.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of MDCT scans from 17 patients undergoing TARE pre-treatment work-up.
• Four observers (one interventional radiologist, three radiographers) evaluated specific liver volumes: healthy liver volume (HLV), total hepatic volume (THV), tumor volume (TTV), and whole liver volume (WLV).

Main Results:

• All observers detected the same number of hepatic lesions per patient.
• Radiographers demonstrated very high intra-observer reliability (0.997-1.000) and excellent inter-observer reproducibility (0.965-0.999) for CTVs.
• The accuracy of radiographer evaluations was very high (0.964-0.999).

Conclusions:

• Properly trained radiographers can achieve accuracy comparable to interventional radiologists in assessing liver CTV data for TARE planning.
• This finding supports the potential for radiographers to play a more significant role in TARE treatment planning, enhancing efficiency.