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Value of the color Doppler imaging mode in improving physicians’ diagnostic performance in patients with mid-ureteric stones larger than 5 mm: a retrospective study

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the value of the color Doppler flow imaging mode compared to the gray-scale mode for diagnosing mid-ureteric stones larger than 5 mm. We consecutively collected images from 79 patients possibly suffering from mid-ureteric stones under gray-scale and color Doppler flow imaging modes. Using computed tomography as the gold standard, all the included images were reviewed in a blinded manner for the confirmation of ureteral stones by 15 physicians divided into three groups according to their clinical experience level (resident, attending, and senior). During the evaluation process, the evaluation consistency was calculated and compared using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (Kendall’s W). Moreover, diagnostic performance considering gray-scale and color imaging modes was compared. Especially for the diagnosis of mid-ureteric stones larger than 5 mm, the Kendall’s W for the combined gray-scale and color Doppler flow imaging ultrasound scanning modes was greater than that for the gray-scale mode (P < 0.05). Additionally, significant improvements in the diagnostic sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy were noted with color Doppler imaging (P < 0.05). Under isolated gray-scale mode, the resident group had reduced diagnostic sensitivity and negative predictive value and poorer accuracy compared with the attending and senior groups (P < 0.05). In contrast, no significant differences in the combined gray-scale and color Doppler flow imaging modes were noted among all groups (P > 0.05). In summary, the color Doppler flow imaging mode is useful for the diagnosis of mid-ureteric stones larger than 5 mm, especially in the resident group.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to convey our appreciation to the 15 participating physicians from the Ultrasonic Imaging Center of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University for their evaluations and American Journal Experts (AJE) for providing editing assistance for this paper. This work was funded by the Pre-Research Fund for Young Investigators of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University (SDFEYQN1702); National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC0909100); the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20161222); Science and Technology Development Planning of Shandong Province, China (2012GSF11847); the grant for Key Young Talents of Medicine in Jiangsu (QNRC2016875); and the Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (18YJC910004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ultrasound, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, Jiangsu, China

    Meng Wang, Qi Ma & Yingchun Zhang

  2. School of Mathematics and Physics, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215009, Jiangsu, China

    Yang Chen

  3. Department of Ultrasound, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, China

    Jie Li

  4. Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, Jiangsu, China

    Jin Zhu

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  1. Meng Wang
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  2. Qi Ma
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  3. Yang Chen
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  4. Jie Li
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  5. Jin Zhu
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Contributions

WM: project development, data collection and analysis, and manuscript writing. LJ, MQ, ZJ, and ZYC: data collection. CY: data collection and analysis, and manuscript writing.

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Correspondence to Meng Wang.

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We declare no conflicts of interest regarding the content of this manuscript.

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This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, and patient consent was waived given the absence of risk.

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Wang, M., Ma, Q., Chen, Y. et al. Value of the color Doppler imaging mode in improving physicians’ diagnostic performance in patients with mid-ureteric stones larger than 5 mm: a retrospective study. Urolithiasis 49, 463–469 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-021-01250-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00240-021-01250-w

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