Evaluation of inter-observer variability regarding aortic and mitral valve findings on transesophageal echocardiograms ordered for suspected endocarditis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the gold standard for the detection of valvular vegetations (VV). Differentiating small VV from degenerative changes is challenging and prone to inter-observer variability. We evaluated inter-observer agreement regarding aortic (AV) and mitral valve (MV) findings on TEEs ordered for suspected infective endocarditis (IE).

Methods

A total of 349 consecutive TEEs were evaluated. Studies were classified as "definite, possible, or no" IE with valve masses classified further by morphology. Nine faculty echocardiographers scored randomly selected TEEs of the AV (N = 38) and MV (N = 35). Inter-reader variability was calculated using the Fleiss/Scott Kappa (Kf).

Results

Positive blood cultures were present in 81% and 45% had

SUBMITTER: Moon KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9541542 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature