Reproducibility of transesophageal echocardiography in evaluating aortic atheroma in stroke patients. Echocardiography 2005 Apr;22(4):326-30
Date
04/21/2005Pubmed ID
15839988DOI
10.1111/j.1540-8175.2005.04044.xScopus ID
2-s2.0-17644364757 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 20 CitationsAbstract
Although transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a well-established tool in delineating the cardiac and aortic sources of emboli in stroke patients, its reproducibility in detecting aortic atherosclerosis (AA) that may lead to stroke is not well documented. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the inter- and intra-observer agreement in diagnosing AA based on the TEE study. During the study period, 2 echocardiographers read 32 TEE studies performed on a group of stroke patients. The AA was estimated by measuring the largest atheroma thickness in millimeters (mm). The intra-observers and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were 0.97 and 0.85, respectively, for the 2 TEE observers. The inter-rater ICC coefficient between TEE readers was 0.91. In conclusion, TEE detected AA and defined high proportions of the morphological characteristics of atheroma with good reproducibility among inter and intra-observers.
Author List
Zaidat OO, Suarez JI, Hedrick D, Redline S, Schluchter M, Landis DM, Hoit BMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedAortic Diseases
Arteriosclerosis
Echocardiography, Transesophageal
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Observer Variation
Prognosis
Prospective Studies
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Severity of Illness Index
Stroke