Single sweep three-dimensional carotid ultrasound: Reproducibility in plaque and artery volume measurements
Methods: Consecutive patients with a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and having a plaque in the internal carotid artery (ICA) were recruited for this study. Imaging was performed using a Philips iU 22 ultrasound system equipped with the single sweep volumetric transducer vL 13-5. Analysis was performed offline with software provided by the manufacturer. Two independent observers performed all measurements.
Results: Of 137 arteries studied (from 79 patients), plaque and artery volumes could be measured in 106 (77%). Reproducibility of plaque volume measurements was assessed in 82 arteries. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated good inter-observer reproducibility with limits of agreement -0.06 to +0.07 ml. The mean percentage difference between two observers was 5.6% ± 6.0%. Reproducibility of artery volume measurement was assessed in 31 cases. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated limits of agreement from -0.15 to +0.15 ml. The mean percentage difference was 6.4 ± 5.9%.
Conclusion: The new automated single sweep 3D ultrasound is feasible in the majority of patients. Good reproducibility in plaque and artery volume measurements makes this technique suitable for serial assessment of carotid plaques.
History
Publication title
AtherosclerosisVolume
232Pagination
397-402ISSN
0021-9150Department/School
Tasmanian School of MedicinePublisher
Elsevier Ireland Ltd.Place of publication
IrelandRights statement
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/Repository Status
- Open