Interobserver agreement between radiologists and radiology residents and emergency physicians in the detection of PE using CTPA

Abstract Objective To assess interobserver agreement between thoracic radiologists, radiology residents, and emergency physicians in diagnosing pulmonary embolism (PE). Materials and methods Emergency physicians, radiology residents, and thoracic radiologists evaluated 123 computed tomography pulmonary angiography images. Interobserver agreement was analysed using kappa statistics. Results Very good agreements were observed between thoracic radiologists and radiology residents (0.81 and 0.82). Fair and moderate agreements (0.39 and 0.42) were demonstrated between emergency physicians and thoracic radiologists. Conclusions Important differences in interobserver agreement were found, with emergency physicians tending to overdiagnose PE.