Nuclear medicine technologists are able to accurately determine when a myocardial perfusion rest study is necessary

Autor: Liselott Nilsson Johansson, Lars Edenbrandt, Camilla Olofsson, Elin Trägårdh, Sven Valind
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Male
Radionuclide imaging
Ischemic heart disease
MEDLINE
Coronary Disease
Health Informatics
lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
Sensitivity and Specificity
Health informatics
Myocardial perfusion imaging
Organophosphorus Compounds
Predictive Value of Tests
Rest (finance)
medicine
Humans
99Tc MPS
Practice Patterns
Physicians'
Other Health Sciences
Observer Variation
Sweden
Protocol (science)
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Health Policy
Process Assessment
Health Care
Gold standard
Myocardial Perfusion Imaging
Organotechnetium Compounds
Middle Aged
Decision Support Systems
Clinical
equipment and supplies
Computer Science Applications
Test (assessment)
Benchmarking
Image interpretation
Exercise Test
lcsh:R858-859.7
Female
Clinical Competence
Nuclear Medicine
Radiopharmaceuticals
business
Nuclear medicine
Stress study
Follow-Up Studies
Research Article
Zdroj: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making; 12(97) (2012)
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 97 (2012)
ISSN: 1472-6947
Popis: Background In myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS), typically a stress and a rest study is performed. If the stress study is considered normal, there is no need for a subsequent rest study. The aim of the study was to determine whether nuclear medicine technologists are able to assess the necessity of a rest study. Methods Gated MPS using a 2-day 99mTc protocol for 121 consecutive patients were studied. Visual interpretation by 3 physicians was used as gold standard for determining the need for a rest study based on the stress images. All nuclear medicine technologists performing MPS had to review 82 training cases of stress MPS images with comments regarding the need for rest studies, and thereafter a test consisting of 20 stress MPS images. After passing this test, the nuclear medicine technologists in charge of a stress MPS study assessed whether a rest study was needed or not or if he/she was uncertain and wanted to consult a physician. After that, the physician in charge interpreted the images and decided whether a rest study was required or not. Results The nuclear medicine technologists and the physicians in clinical routine agreed in 103 of the 107 cases (96%) for which the technologists felt certain regarding the need for a rest study. In the remaining 14 cases the technologists were uncertain, i.e. wanted to consult a physician. The agreement between the technologists and the physicians in clinical routine was very good, resulting in a kappa value of 0.92. There was no statistically significant difference in the evaluations made by technicians and physicians (P = 0.617). Conclusions The nuclear medicine technologists were able to accurately determine whether a rest study was necessary. There was very good agreement between nuclear medicine technologists and physicians in the assessment of the need for a rest study. If the technologists can make this decision, the effectiveness of the nuclear medicine department will improve.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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