Evaluation of the RSNA and CORADS classifications for COVID-19 on chest computed tomography in the Brazilian population

Authors

  • Eduardo Kaiser Ururahy Nunes Fonseca Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Bruna Melo Coelho Loureiro Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Daniel Giunchetti Strabelli Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Lucas de Pádua Gomes de Farias Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • José Vitor Rassi Garcia Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Victor Arcanjo Almeida Gama Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Lorena Carneiro Ferreira Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Rodrigo Caruso Chate Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Antonildes Nascimento Assunção Júnior Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Marcio Valente Yamada Sawamura Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas
  • Cesar Higa Nomura Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Hospital das Clinicas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2021/e2476

Keywords:

COVID-19, Viral, Pneumonia, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Pandemics

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between the two tomographic classifications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), COVID-19 Reporting and Data System (CORADS) and Radiological Society of North America Expert Consensus Statement on Reporting Chest Computed Tomography (CT) Findings Related to COVID-19 (RSNA), in the Brazilian population and to assess the agreement between reviewers with different experience levels. METHODS: Chest CT images of patients with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-positive COVID-19 were categorized according to the CORADS and RSNA classifications by radiologists with different levels of experience and who were initially unaware of the RT-PCR results. The inter- and intra-observer concordances for each of the classifications were calculated, as were the concordances between classifications. RESULTS: A total of 100 patients were included in this study. The RSNA classification showed an almost perfect inter-observer agreement between reviewers with similar experience levels, with a kappa coefficient of 0.892 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.788–0.995). CORADS showed substantial agreement among reviewers with similar experience levels, with a kappa coefficient of 0.642 (95% CI, 0.491–0.793). There was inter-observer variation when comparing less experienced reviewers with more experienced reviewers, with the highest kappa coefficient of 0.396 (95% CI, 0.255–0.588). There was a significant correlation between both classifications, with a Kendall coefficient of 0.899 (po0.001) and substantial intra-observer agreement for both classifications. CONCLUSION: The RSNA and CORADS classifications showed excellent inter-observer agreement for reviewers with the same level of experience, although the agreement between less experience reviewers and the reviewer with the most experience was only reasonable. Combined analysis of both classifications with the first RT-PCR results did not reveal any false-negative results for detecting COVID-19 in patients.

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Published

2021-11-09

Issue

Section

Original Articles

How to Cite

Evaluation of the RSNA and CORADS classifications for COVID-19 on chest computed tomography in the Brazilian population. (2021). Clinics, 76, e2476. https://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2021/e2476