Interrater Reliability of Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Sialolithiasis: Methodological Issues

We read the recently published article by Goncalves M et al. with great interest. This paper was published in the February 2019 issue of the European Journal of Ultrasound [1]. The author aimed to assess the interobserver reliability and agreement of offline analyses of three different ultrasound techniques for assessing tubal patency. They assessed interrater reliability by applying Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ) and percentage agreement in 100 consecutive patients with signs of obstructive sialadenopathy. They reported that overall agreement among the seven observers was substantial (κ = 0.76).

• References

• 1 Goncalves M, Mantsopoulos K, Schapher ML. et al. Interrater Reliability of Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Sialolithiasis. Ultraschall in Med 2019;
• 2 Sabour S. Reliability Assurance of EML4 ALK Rearrangement Detection in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Methodological and Statistical Issue. J Thorac Oncol 2016; 11: e92-e93
• 3 Sabour S. Reliability of automatic vibratory equipment for ultrasonic strain measurement of the median nerve: common mistake. Ultrasound Med Biol 2015; 4: 1119-1120
• 4 Sabour S. Methodologic concerns in reliability of noncalcified coronary artery plaque burden quantification. Am J Roentgenol 2014; 203: W343
• 5 Sabour S. Reliability of immunocytochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization on fine-needleaspiration cytology samples of breast cancers: methodological issues. Diagn Cytopathol 2016; 44: 1128-1129