Abstract
BACKGROUND: Established anatomical classifications of infrapopliteal arterial lesion severity are based on assessment of only one target artery, not including all infrapopliteal arteries although multivessel revascularization is common.
PURPOSE: To investigate the reproducibility of one of these classifications and a new aggregated score.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 68 patients undergoing endovascular infrapopliteal revascularization at Sahlgrenska University Hospital during 2008-2016 were included. Preoperative magnetic resonance angiographies (MRA) and digital subtraction angiographies (DSA) were evaluated by three blinded observers in random order, using the infrapopliteal TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) II classification. An aggregated score, the Infrapopliteal Total Atherosclerotic Burden (I-TAB) score, including all infrapopliteal arteries, was constructed and used for comparison.
RESULTS: Inter-observer agreement on lesion severity for each evaluated artery was good; Krippendorff's α for MRA 0.64-0.79 and DSA 0.66-0.84. Inter-observer agreement on TASC II grade, based on the selected target artery as stipulated, was poor; Krippendorff's α 0.14 (95% confidence interval [CI]=-0.05 to 0.30) for MRA and 0.48 (95% CI=0.33-0.61) for DSA. Inter-observer agreement for the new I-TAB score was good; Krippendorff's α 0.76 (95% CI=0.70-0.81) for MRA and 0.79 (95% CI=0.74-0.84) for DSA.
CONCLUSION: Reproducible assessment of infrapopliteal lesion severity can be achieved for separate arteries with both MRA and DSA using the TASC II definitions. However, poor inter-observer agreement in selecting the target artery results in low reproducibility of the overall infrapopliteal TASC II grade. An aggregated score, such as I-TAB, results in less variability and may provide a more robust evaluation tool of atherosclerotic disease severity.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1298-1306 |
Journal | Acta radiologica (Stockholm, Sweden : 1987) |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 2022 May 26 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Radiology and Medical Imaging