Evaluating Observer Reliability and Diagnostic Accuracy of CT-LEFAT Criteria for Post-Treatment Head and Neck Lymphedema: A Prospective Blinded Comparative Analysis of Oncologist Human Inter-Rater Performance.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Radiation-associated lymphedema and fibrosis (LEF) is a significant toxicity following radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Recently, the CT Lymphedema and Fibrosis Assessment Tool (CT-LEFAT) was developed to standardize LEF diagnosis through fat stranding visualized on CT. This study aims to evaluate the inter-observer reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the CT-LEFAT criteria.

Materials and methods

This study retrospectively evaluated 26 HNC patients treated with RT that received a minimum of two contrast-enhanced CT scans. Qualitative review was conducted by five physician raters to assess the fat stranding observed on CT according to the CT-LEFAT criteria. Fleiss' kappa analysis was used to assess the inter- and intra-rater reliabi

SUBMITTER: MD Anderson Head and Neck Cancer Symptom Working Group 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11451822 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature