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PubMed1980

Data collection techniques: observation.

Use of observation as a measurement procedure, assigning numerals to human behavioral acts, is discussed. Observation has important advantages which makes it best suited for certain kinds of studies, and some limitations which preclude its use in others. The central problems in the use of observation are: (1) the effect of the observer on the observed, which is usually not severe and can be minimized; (2) observer inference, which is a crucial strength and a crucial weakness; and (3) the unit of behavior to be used, which involves the molar-molecular problem. The considerations in planning both unstructured and structured observation studies are discussed, including what to observe, how to record it, how to maximize validity and reliability, and how to handle the relationship between the observer and the observed. Behavior is usually sampled using event sampling or time sampling. The uses and weaknesses of rating scales to assess perceived behavior are summarized.

Behavior↗

PubMed1995

[Evaluation of temporary observation and short hospital stay in a pediatric emergency department].

Temporary observation is a very short stay in Emergency Department, widely carried out in adult patients in our Country. No experience in childhood has been reported. In our emergency department children under 16 with acute diseases are admitted for 24-48 hours. From 1991 we carried out also temporary observation. Its effectiveness has been evaluated by studying our activity in 1992 (14.574 emergency room visits, with 664 admissions to our Department and 274 temporary observation) and 1993 (12820 emergency room visits, 573 admissions, 428 temporary observation). Compared to 1992, in 1993 there was a decrease of both emergency room visits (higher than expected from demographic lowering and in part due to payment for emergency room visits) and hospital admissions, and an increase of temporary observation. The stay in hospital was less than 6 hours in 94.2% of temporary observation patients. 18.2% of them were evaluated on clinical basis, 57% also by diagnostic examinations, 24.8% had some treatment. The 89% of the children were sent home following temporary observation, the others were admitted. Criteria for temporary observation were fairly similar to those for hospital admission, but not far as Central Nervous System and Renal Disease are concerned. Our study confirms the usefulness of temporary observation in childhood to reduce both the number of hospital admissions and the discomfort of the patient and his family. Nevertheless there is a need of criteria of appropriateness. Therefore we have elaborated guide lines for temporary observation and admission to our Department.

Child↗

PubMed1992

Intra- and inter-observer variation of optic nerve head measurements in glaucoma suspects using disc-data.

The aim of this study was to determine the intra- and inter-observer variation in the use of a system designed for exact measurements from standard optic nerve head photographs. The commercially available system consisted of a colour CCD Videocamera, a dedicated frame grabber and customized software run on a IBM AT compatible computer. Masked measurements were made 3 times by 2 observers, from stereophotographs of the optic nerve head of 56 eyes from 30 glaucoma suspects. The cup was defined on the basis of contour, not pallor and the disc area was defined as the area inside Elschnig's ring. Intra-observer variances were 0.001 +/- 0.001 mm2 for cup area (mean +/- SD), 0.002 +/- 0.002 mm2 for disc area and 0.002 +/- 0.003 mm2 for rim area. These values for intra-observer variance were comparable with the results obtained using manual planimetric techniques. Intra-observer variance for disc area was significantly larger for the less trained of the two experienced observers. Inter-observer variances were 0.004 +/- 0.009 mm2 for cup area, 0.008 +/- 0.013 mm2 for disc area and 0.009 +/- 0.014 mm2 for rim area. These inter-observer variances were significantly larger than those previously reported for manual planimetry. The absolute differences between the two observers ranged from -0.35 to +0.20 mm2 (-0.08 +/- 0.11 mm2) for cup area, from -0.38 to +0.15 mm2 (-0.08 +/- 0.11 mm2) for disc area and from -0.29 to +0.34 mm2 (-0.06 +/- 0.12 mm2) for rim area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Accuracy of helical CT for acute pulmonary embolism: ROC analysis of observer performance related to clinical experience.

The aim of this study was to test the influence of observer experience on the accuracy for interpreting helical CT for acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and to identify sources of observer errors. Three observers of different expertise blindly assessed 147 helical CT scans for suspected PE (true status regarding absence or presence of PE known from independent reference studies). These observers were (a) an experienced CT radiologist, (b) a fellow in CT, and (c) a second-year resident without any formal training in CT. None of them had prior experience with CT for PE. Firstly, 70 CT scans were scored without revealing true PE status. Afterwards, feedback was provided and another 77 CT scans were evaluated. The CT scans were scored on a 5-point confidence scale and receiver-operator-characteristic analysis was performed. Different sources of interpretation errors were analyzed. The two observers with CT experience were significantly more accurate than the unexperienced observer. Their performance was not influenced by feedback training. Certain observer errors were identified, but there was no clear difference among the three observers considering the type of errors. There is significant influence of observer experience on accuracy of reading helical CT for PE: A basic working experience with whole-body CT seems to be a prerequisite. These results suggest that with this experience any radiologist should be able to achieve good accuracy; helical CT thus might become a suitable technique for acute PE in routine clinical practice.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1994

Accuracy of estimating food intake by observation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of direct observation in food-weight estimation as measured under controlled field conditions. DESIGN AND SUBJECTS: Ten local Nepalis were trained in observational techniques and tested in food-weight estimation during a 3-month training period and for 4 months after training. SETTING: The study was carried out in the Sarlahi District, a rural, central lowland region of Nepal that borders India. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Thirty testing sessions (a total of 6,902 observations) were completed on more than 150 different foods. Estimates of observed food weight were compared with actual weights and were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to examine associations between estimated and actual weights. RESULTS: Observer estimates of food weights were highly correlated with actual weights (r = .96) for the entire testing period. The linear regression equation (y = .96x + 1.3) suggests that the relationship between actual and observed food weights (in grams) was also accurate. Most observers showed improvement with training. Substantial reductions in both mean and standard deviation of percentage error were achieved over time. Accuracy of estimates was influenced by characteristics of foods weighted; small quantities (less than 20 g), certain nonstaple foods, and foods of high volume but light weight had less accurate estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Direct observation is an important method for assessing dietary intake that does not rely on a respondents' ability to recall his or her own or another's food consumption. It is feasible to train local observers to make visual estimates of food weight, but the accuracy of their estimates varies by food and portion size.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Choosing observers for evaluation of aesthetic results in breast cancer conservative treatment.

PURPOSE: The subjective evaluation of aesthetic results in conservative breast cancer treatment has largely been used without questioning the observer's skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate interobserver agreement of the aesthetic results of breast cancer conservative treatment in three groups of observers with different levels of experience. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Photographs were taken of 55 women who had undergone conservative unilateral breast cancer treatment and 5 control women with no breast disease. The images were then distributed to 13 observers who were divided into three groups according to their experience in breast cancer treatment: experienced, medium experienced, and inexperienced. They were first asked to distinguish the patients from the controls and for the patients to identify the operated side. Subsequently, they were asked to classify the aesthetic result as excellent, good, fair, or poor. The accuracy in identifying controls, patients, and side of treatment was calculated individually for all observers. The interobserver agreement for the aesthetic result was calculated using observed agreement and multiple kappa statistic (kappa) in each of the three groups. RESULTS: Inexperienced observers performed significantly worse than experienced observers in identifying controls, patients, and the side of treatment. Agreement of the aesthetic result was significantly greater in the group of experienced observers (kappa = 0.59) than in the medium experienced (kappa = 0.35) and inexperienced (kappa = 0.33) observers. CONCLUSION: Previous experience in breast cancer conservative treatment should be considered a prerequisite for the evaluation of the aesthetic results.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2004

Observer agreement on pen level prevalence of clinical signs in finishing pigs.

Four observers performed a standard clinical examination of finisher pigs in two commercial finisher herds. In herd 1,600 finisher pigs in 44 pens were examined. The observers assessed clinical signs of lameness, umbilical hernia and tail bite according to a standardized procedure. The prevalence of the clinical signs was estimated at the pen level. The procedure was repeated after 3 months in another herd, where 730 finisher pigs in 69 pens were examined. The agreement between observer pairs was assessed using prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK) and proportionate-agreement estimates (Ppo) and Pneg). Observer bias was present despite training and standardization of the participating observers. The highest pen level agreement for the observer pairs was found for pens that had one or more pigs with tail bite (PABAK = 0.82-1.00) and umbilical hernia (PABAK = 0.77-1.00). The agreement was fair-to-moderate for identification of pens holding one or more lame pigs (PABAK = 0.27-0.7). In general, the average agreement of observer pairs on absence of clinical signs (Pneg) was higher than for presence (Ppos). The observer bias varied between observer pairs and with the clinical signs.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Estimated use of a pediatric emergency department observation unit.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the use of a pediatric ED observation unit, including the number of anticipated admissions per 10,000 pediatric ED visits per year and the distribution of those admissions by age group, by month, and by time of day. METHODS: Hospital and ED computer records on all ED patients younger than 18 years who were seen during a 2-year period were abstracted for diagnostic, demographic, and time-flow data. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients admitted to the hospital and discharged within 24 hours to determine whether discharge in less than 24 hours could have been anticipated and whether the patient could have been cared for in a pediatric ED observation unit. To refine the estimate, we also reviewed the ICD-9 discharge diagnoses of patients who were not admitted to the hospital but spent more than 6 hours in the pediatric ED. RESULTS: Of 29,667 pediatric ED visits in a 2-year period, 2,940 (10%) resulted in admission. Of 626 patients discharged in less than 24 hours, only 410 met the anticipation and pediatric ED observation unit level of care criteria. Patients younger than 4 years represented 43% of potential observation unit patients; those aged 16 and 17 years represented 15%. Potential use of an observation unit varied throughout the year. Admission occurred between 3 and 11:59 PM in 60% of the patients. Only 20% of the 176 patients who were not admitted to the hospital but spent more than 6 hours in the pediatric ED were estimated to be candidates for a pediatric ED observation unit. CONCLUSION: On the basis of these data, approximately 150 patients per 10,000 each year who visit the University of Virginia pediatric ED would be likely to use an observation unit. Staffing and facility use would be seasonally uneven and would be required during the busiest part of the day. Furthermore, even in a pediatric ED large enough to admit 365 pediatric ED observation unit patients each year, random daily variation in demand means that a single bed would be inadequate 25% of the time and empty 37% of the time. Optimal use of even a single-bed pediatric ED observation unit would not occur until pediatric ED census exceeded 30,000 to 40,000 visits annually.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Gender bias in the observation of experimental pain.

The aim of this study was to examine how men and women observe experimentally induced pain in male and female participants and to specifically determine the accuracy of observed pain ratings, the possible interactions between the sex of the viewer and the sex of the individual being observed, and the influence of gender role expectations on observed pain ratings. The sample comprised 29 participants (15 females). They each completed a battery of psychological questionnaires and viewed a presentation of 10 randomly ordered video clips. Each presentation consisted of 10 video clips, lasting 30s, of a participant (five males and five females) in the cold pressor task. The participants viewing the videos were asked to provide several ratings, including observed pain intensity and gender role related characteristics of the individual in the video. In terms of sex of the video participant, results indicated that viewers rated male videos as having less pain than female videos although the effect was small. Regarding sex of the viewer, results indicated that for both male and female videos, female viewers rated observed pain intensity significantly higher than did male viewers. In terms of accuracy, results indicated that on average, female video participants' pain was underestimated by 14 points, while male videos participants' pain was underestimated by 22 points (on a 0-100-point scale). Pain intensity ratings and pain tolerance from the participants in the videos did not differ significantly with respect to sex, though women had shorter tolerance times and higher pain ratings than men. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that expectations of gender related 'endurance of pain' significantly predicted ratings of both male and female videos. When endurance expectations were controlled, sex of the viewer no longer significantly predicted observed pain ratings. The 'willingness to report pain' variable was not a significant predictor of observed pain ratings. Our results show that women are perceived to have more pain than men, that there was a tendency by both sexes to underestimate pain in others, but men showed even greater underestimation, and that gender role expectations of pain endurance given by the video observers accounted for substantial variance in their ratings of pain in the videos.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Survey of observer variation in transesophageal echocardiography: comparison of anesthesiology and cardiology literature.

OBJECTIVE: Transesophageal echocardiographic examination tends to be somewhat observer and experience dependent, and observer bias can arise easily when data are calculated and interpreted by unskilled, nonblinded, or single observers. The study plan was to see whether authors have adequately described how observer bias is minimized in their studies. Thus, a study was conducted systematically reviewing methods reported in transesophageal echocardio graphy articles in peer-reviewed anesthesiology journals versus those reported in peer-reviewed cardiology journals. INTERVENTIONS: After MEDLINE searches of the literature published from 1997 through 1999, the authors investigated 56 anesthesiology reports and 56 randomly selected, year-matched cardiology reports. An 8-item questionnaire was developed that examined several factors: the number of observers and their experience levels, whether observers were blind to clinical data, whether low-quality images were excluded, the use of on-line or off-line analysis, and observer variability. MAIN RESULTS: The analysis revealed inadequacies in reporting of important information that relates to bias and quality in 91.1% of anesthesiology and 98.2% of cardiology articles. Observer variability was not reported in 50.0% of the anesthesiology reports and 67.9% of the cardiology reports; however, difference between the 2 bodies of literature was not significant. The journal impact factor was significantly higher for the cardiology literature than for the anesthesiology literature (2.42 [0.386-10.893] v 1.07 [0.664-3.439]; median [range], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Articles reviewed had at least some inadequacies in reporting the methods to minimize observer bias in both the anesthesiology and cardiology literature. Reporting methodology standards in TEE examinations remain to be established.

Anesthesiology↗

PubMed1996

Comparison of trained and untrained observers using subjective and objective measures of imaging performance.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We compared subjective and objective measures of imaging performance using variations of Rose- and Burger-type low-contrast phantoms with trained (radiology residents) and untrained (graduate students) observers. METHODS: With one phantom variant, observers indicated the total number of objects seen when test objects were presented in a regular pattern (subjective). With the second phantom variant, observers stated whether a low-contrast disk was present in each locale, thereby permitting the true-positive fraction and false-positive fraction to be determined (objective). RESULTS: The untrained-observer group had a significantly lower imaging performance than the trained observer group in subjective tests. These differences were not found on objective tests. For the trained-observer group, similar contrast levels were required in subjective and objective tests to yield a 50% rate of detection. CONCLUSION: Trained observers are superior subjects compared with untrained observers for assessing imaging performance using subjective low-contrast phantoms. In experiments using phantoms that allowed objective testing, both groups of observers yield similar results.

Educational Status↗

PubMed2002

Long-term reliability and observer comparisons in the radiographic diagnosis of periapical disease.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the long-term diagnostic consistency of two examiners, an endodontist and a radiologist, and to make comparisons with findings recorded by an observer with more recent scientific and clinical experience in endodontics. METHODOLOGY: Three groups, each consisting of 20 full mouth series of intraoral radiographs, with 79, 93 and 85 endodontically-treated roots, respectively, were successively evaluated for periapical disease. Evaluations were at first performed separately by the three observers. Disagreement and difficult, borderline cases were subjected to joint evaluation. Intra- and interexaminer comparisons were made. For two of the observers the observations were compared with findings recorded several years before for the same cases in the same radiographs. RESULTS: The intra- and interobserver long-term reliability of the two original examiners resulted in 83% overall agreement, the kappa values were 0.54, 0.57 and 0.53. Comparisons between all three observers disclosed 82%, 85% and 86% agreement and kappa values 0.55, 0.58 and 0.60. The joint evaluations and decisions did not indicate a dominating influence from any of the observers. CONCLUSIONS: The long-term reliability of the two original observers was judged as being satisfactory. All three observers judged the overall disease status of the material in the same way. The joint discussions of selected cases might reduce observer variation to an acceptable level, avoid a number of false recordings and increase the reliability and validity of the findings.

Humans↗

PubMed1999

Observer variation in the assessment of the histopathologic diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study were to determine observer variation in the assessment of the histopathologic diagnosis of acute appendicitis. METHODS: Two consultant pathologists independently evaluated 415 appendectomy specimens (set I). After a consensus conference at which the observers unified the criteria of the diagnosis of acute appendicitis, another 396 appendectomy specimens (set II) were evaluated. To calculate the intra-observer variation, one observer evaluated set II once more. Finally, using the consensus diagnosis as the final diagnosis, the diagnostic accuracy of the surgeon, the primary pathology report, and the two observer evaluations was calculated. RESULTS: In set I no difference was found in the level of agreement on the diagnosis of acute appendicitis versus other diagnoses, and a kappa value of 0.85 was obtained. In set II a kappa value of 0.88 was obtained, which was not significantly different from the kappa value in set I. However, the consensus conference did increase the level of agreement on the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The intra-observer variation was calculated, and a kappa value of 0.88 was obtained. The cases in which the observers disagreed on a positive diagnosis were cases of mild appendicitis. The question remains how many specimens would have shown these changes if all tissue had been developed for microscopy. The observers' diagnoses were the most reliable, and there was a significant decrease in the diagnostic accuracy compared with both the primary pathology report and the surgeon's opinion, the last one being the least accurate. CONCLUSIONS: These observations stress how important it is for the pathologist to discuss the diagnostic criteria of the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and for the surgeon to go back to the patient's record and look up the histopathologic diagnosis.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2006

Head-at-risk signs in Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: poor inter- and intra-observer reliability.

BACKGROUND: The head-at-risk signs are used as prognostic indicators in Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease. These signs have been assessed only once regarding inter-observer reliability, however. Intra-observer reliability seems not to have been studied to date. METHOD: 76 anteroposterior pelvic radiographs of unilateral Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease were assessed by 5 observers on 2 occasions, in order to assess the inter- and intra-observer reliability in identifying head-at-risk signs. The observers included 1 consultant pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, 1 consultant radiologist, 2 specialist registrars and 1 senior house officer. Inter- and intra-observer reliabilities were assessed using the kappa coefficient. RESULTS: The intra-observer reliability was good for lateral subluxation and metaphyseal cystic changes, moderate for lateral calcification, and fair for Gage's sign and horizontal growth plate. The inter-observer reliability was moderate for lateral subluxation, fair for lateral calcification and metaphyseal cystic changes, and slight for Gage's sign and horizontal growth plate. INTERPRETATION: There was considerable variation in the diagnosis of the head-at-risk signs between observers. This makes the classification difficult to use in clinical practice.

Calcinosis↗

PubMed1991

Ideal versus human observer for long-tailed point spread functions: does deconvolution help?

The ideal observer represents a Bayesian approach to performing detection tasks. Since such tasks are frequently used as a prototype tasks for radiological imaging systems, the detectability measured at the output of an ideal detector can be used as a figure of merit to characterize the imaging system. For the detectability achieved by the ideal observer to be a good figure of merit, it should predict the ability of the human observer to perform the same detection task. Of great general interest, especially to the medical community, are imaging devices with long-tailed point spread functions (PSFs). Such PSFs may occur due to septal penetration in collimators, veiling glare in image intensifiers or scattered radiation in the body. We have investigated the effect that this type of PSF has on human visual signal detection and whether any improvement in performance can be gained by deconvolving the tails of the PSF. For the ideal observer, it is straightforward to show that the performance is independent of any linear, invertible deconvolution filter. Our psychophysical studies show, however, that performance of the human observer is indeed improved by deconvolution. The ideal observer is, therefore, not a good predictor of human observer performance for detection of a signal imaged through a long-tailed PSF. We offer some explanations for this discrepancy by using some characteristics of the visual process and suggest a standard of comparison for the human observer that takes into account these characteristics. A look at the performance of the non-prewhitening (npw) ideal observer, before and after deconvolution, also brings some good insight into this study.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMed1996

The renal histopathology in systemic vasculitis: an international survey study of inter- and intra-observer agreement.

In order to relate histopathological findings of the kidney in systemic vasculitis to renal outcome, scoring of various morphological parameters is necessary. Therefore, we conducted a standardization study for evaluating renal biopsies from patients with systemic vasculitis. Four experienced renal pathologists from four European centres joined in the study. A scoring protocol was devised that required the observers to score an extensive number of histopathological lesions either quantitatively (as a percentage of the total number of glomeruli) or dichotomously (on a present/absent scale). Twenty renal biopsies were scored individually by all the observers, from which the inter-observer variability was analysed. Ten randomly chosen biopsies were scored again, in order to obtain the intra-observer variability. For inter-observer agreement, the evaluation of the quantitative variables was satisfactory for both rounds (0.55 < or = Kendall's W < or = 0.95 and 0.59 < or = W < or = 0.96, respectively, with all P < 0.05). However, the inter-observer agreement for the dichotomous data was poor (kappa < or = 0.30 in more than half of the parameters in both rounds). Also the data on intra-observer agreement showed more favourable results for the analysis of the quantitative data (Pearson's r > 0.45 in more than 85% of the variables in both rounds) than for the dichotomous scoring system (kappa < or = 0.30 in more than half of the variables). It is concluded that even between experienced renal pathologists discrepancies occur in scoring kidney biopsies. Inter- and intra-observer agreement is greater if a quantitative method for reviewing the biopsies is applied that requires the observers to score the tissue specimens systematically.

Biopsy↗

PubMed1999

Bone marrow content measured in radioimmune bone marrow scintigraphy: intra- and inter-observer variability.

The aim of this study was to assess the possible quantification of vertebral residual bone marrow content relative to the bone marrow content of a non-irradiated vertebra. This method is based on the vertebral count activity, measured using radioimmune bone marrow scintigraphy. First, however, we had to evaluate intra- and inter-observer variability. In three patients who underwent radioimmune bone marrow scintigraphy, two independent observers measured the count density in 51 (15 lumbar and 36 thoracic) vertebrae using a manually drawn region of interest. To evaluate intra- and inter-observer variability, we calculated the means and standard deviations of the differences between measurements. Bland-Altman plots were drawn for all vertebrae as well as for three subgroups of vertebrae (the upper thoracic spine, D1-D6; the lower thoracic spine, D7-D12; and the lumber spine, L1-L5). For all vertebrae, the mean (+/- S.D.) difference, expressed as a percentage of the overall mean, was -0.44 +/- 3.3% for observer 1 and -0.3 +/- 2.1% for observer 2 for intra-observer variability; inter-observer variability varied from 0.55 +/- 3.9% to 1.28 +/- 3.7%. On the Bland-Altman plots, the data points were evenly distributed above and below the 0-line and the linear regression equations matched the line of equality almost perfectly. This pattern was observed for all the vertebrae as well as for the subgroups of vertebrae. In conclusion, our results show that the intra- and inter-observer variabilities are not great, confirming that this technique is simple and robust and can be used for further quantification of bone marrow content in the axial skeleton.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Quantitative analysis of 99Tcm-sestamibi myocardial perfusion SPECT using a three-dimensional reference heart: a comparison with experienced observers.

BACKGROUND: Quantification of myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) may improve scintigraphic analysis. Recently, a fully operator independent technique for the quantification of myocardial perfusion SPECT was described, based on a normal three-dimensional averaged reference heart. The purpose of this study was to compare the automated SPECT quantification technique with experienced observers. METHODS: A total of 43 patients, 36 with one-vessel coronary artery disease (CAD) and seven with a low likelihood of CAD, underwent 99Tcm-sestamibi SPECT (99Tcm-MIBI SPECT). Three experienced observers and a panel (composed of the three observers), blinded to the clinical and angiographic data, analysed the size and severity of perfusion defects and the relation to the distribution areas of the coronary arteries. Inter-observer agreement was calculated by using kappa (kappa) statistics. RESULTS: The inter-observer agreement between the human observers and the automated quantitative analysis, for severity and size of perfusion abnormality, was moderate (kappa range 0.38-0.68), while this was fair between three individual observers (kappa range 0.36-0.87) and good between the individual observers and the panel (kappa range 0.63-0.89). There were no differences between the quantitative analysis and the panel in the allocation of perfusion abnormalities to the affected coronary artery. CONCLUSIONS: The operator independent quantification method showed a moderate agreement with individual observers and a panel analysis for size and severity of perfusion abnormalities. The automatic quantification has a similar ability to assign perfusion abnormalities to the diseased coronary artery as compared to an expert panel.

Adolescent↗