DIAGNOSTIC EFFICACY OF COMPRESSED DIGITIZED REAL-TIME SONOGRAPHY OF UTERINE FIBROIDS

Rationale and Objectives. The authors investigated the diagnostic effi cacy of compression of real-time ultrasound (US) examinations. Methods . Low- and high-compression recordings (9:1 and 15:1, respectively) of examinations were generated by using Joint Photographic Experts Group algorithms. Seven radiologists used a five-level response scale to an swer questions about the presence, number, and location of focal fibro id tumors in 67 randomly sorted uterine examinations. The images were viewed after no, low, and high compression. Results were evaluated by using multipatient, multireader receiver operating characteristic jack knife analysis. Results. Given the reduction in the US digital video r ates from 74 Mbit/ sec for uncompressed images to 8 Mbit/sec for low c ompression and 4.7 Mbit/sec for high compression, there were no statis tically significant differences in accuracy between the compression sc hemes. Confidence intervals suggested that the sample size was adequat e. Conclusion. Compressed images with compression ratios of 9:1 and 15 :1 were diagnostically equivalent to uncompressed images of uterine fi broid tumors.