European radiology
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Computer-assisted detection of pulmonary embolism: performance evaluation in consensus with experienced and inexperienced chest radiologists.
The value of a computer-aided detection tool (CAD) as second reader in combination with experienced and inexperienced radiologists for the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) was assessed prospectively. Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) scans (64 x 0.6 mm collimation; 61.4 mm/rot table feed) of 56 patients (31 women, 34-89 years, mean = 66 years) with suspected PE were analysed by two experienced (R1, R2) and two inexperienced (R3, R4) radiologists for the presence and distribution of emboli using a five-point confidence rating, and by CAD. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. ⋯ CAD improved experienced readers' sensitivities in segmental/subsegmental arteries (sens. = 0.93 and 0.90 for R1, R2 before and 0.97 and 0.94 for R1, R2 after CAD consensus, P < 0.05), without significant improvement of their overall performances (P > 0.05). Particularly inexperienced readers benefit from consensus with CAD data, greatly improving detection of segmental and subsegmental emboli. This system is advocated as a second reader.
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Ultrasound (US) of the paediatric chest has become an established imaging tool that may supplement plain film findings helping to reduce or tailor other ionizing (sectional) imaging in a variety of paediatric conditions such as sequestration or pneumonia. US has been shown to offer valuable imaging alternatives, both reliably enabling diagnosis without need for ionising imaging such as in diaphragmatic palsy (traditionally diagnosed by fluoroscopy) and revealing additional information in patients with equivocal findings on radiographs or replacing follow-up examinations (for example, in pleural effusion). This review outlines the technical requisites for paediatric chest US applications and will discuss its diagnostic potential. Furthermore, it will consider US restrictions, mention some rare applications, and discuss the potential role of chest US in imaging algorithms of certain conditions.