Related Experiment Videos
Laryngeal tumor volume measurements determined with CT: a study on intra- and interobserver variability
Purpose:
To investigate the intra- and interobserver variability of computed tomography-based volume measurements of laryngeal tumors.
Methods And Materials:
The volume of 13 laryngeal tumors was repeatedly measured by five independent observers in four different sessions, using the summation-of-areas technique. Mean tumor volume and its standard deviation were calculated for each tumor. Statistical analysis was done with analysis of variance, Spearman rank correlation, and linear regression.
Results:
Both the effect of the observers (p < 0.0001) and the effect of the session (p < 0.01) on tumor volume was statistically significant. Interobserver variability was the most important component of total variability (89.3%). A significant rank correlation was found between mean volume and standard deviation (p < 0.01); the relationship between mean tumor volume and standard deviation can be described using linear regression [standard deviation = 0.28 volume + 0.35 (R = 0.79)].
Conclusion:
Total variability in the computed tomography-based measurement of laryngeal tumor volume can be reduced by having the measurements done by a single trained observer.