Sm. Balich et al., MR-IMAGING OF THE ROTATOR CUFF TENDON - INTEROBSERVER AGREEMENT AND ANALYSIS OF INTERPRETIVE ERRORS, Radiology, 204(1), 1997, pp. 191-194
PURPOSE: To evaluate accuracy in interpretation of shoulder magnetic r
esonance (MR) images and interobserver agreement and to characterize t
he types of errors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five radiologists with vary
ing experience independently and retrospectively twice interpreted the
MR images of 222 symptomatic patients who underwent bath MR imaging a
nd shoulder arthroscopy. The first interpretation was a blind review;
the second was with knowledge of the arthroscopic findings. RESULTS: F
or full-thickness tears, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy we
re 84%-96%, 94%-98%, and 92%-97%, respectively, and for partial tears,
35%-44%, 85%-97%, and 77%-87%, respectively. There was no statistical
ly significant difference between readers in the detection of partial
or full-thickness tears. There was a statistically significant differe
nce between readers in the no-tear category. Cohen kappa values genera
lly indicated improved interobserver agreement proportional to the rea
ders' experience (full-thickness tears, 0.731-0.881; partial tears, 0.
168-0.443). CONCLUSION: Diagnosis of a full-thickness tear can be lear
ned to a high degree of accuracy. Despite the radiologist's level of e
xperience and knowledge of the arthroscopic findings, the sensitivity
for diagnosis of partial tears is poor.