Ultrasound assessment of testicular volume - An interobserver variability study

Pedersen, Malene Roland Vils; Otto, Peter Obel; Fredslund, Mads; Smedegaard, Claus; Jensen, Janni; McEntee, Mark F.; Loft, Martina Kastrup

doi:10.1016/j.jmir.2023.09.001

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Notably, the rate of interobserver variability in our study matches the rate in the study by Welliver et al (both 35%). Notably, in adults, interobserver variability has been shown to be low enough to justify ultrasound as a reproducible tool for longitudinal TV measurements [ 12 ]. However, the average testicular size in this study was approximately twice as high as in our patient collective and with an equally significantly smaller spread.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intra- and Interobserver Variability in Ultrasound Measurement of Testicular Volumes in Pubertal Boys

Schäfer,

Bürgener,

Stehr

et al. 2024

Children

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Accurate measurement of testicular volume (TV) in boys is an important tool in clinical practice, e.g., in varicocele treatment. This study aims to assess the degree of intra- and interobserver variability of testicular volume measurements. In a prospective study, boys between 11 and 17 years of age without testicular pathology were enrolled. Testicular ultrasound was performed by three investigators (A: pediatric radiologist; B: pediatric surgery/urology resident; C: pediatric urologist). Intraobserver variability was calculated in investigators B and C and interobserver variability between all three investigators. A total of 30 boys were enrolled. Mean intraobserver variability in both observers was +0.3% with a range of −39.6 to 51.5%. The proportion of measurements with a difference >20% was 18.6%. The mean interobserver variability was −1.0% (range: −74.1% to 62.8%). The overall proportion of measurements with a difference >20% was 35%. A lower testicular size of < 4 mL showed a significantly higher rate of >20% difference in both the intraobserver group (31.1% vs. 14.4%; p = 0.035) and the interobserver group (63.2% vs. 26.2%; p = 0.000031). Furthermore, the rate of >20% difference was significantly lower in obese compared to non-obese patients in both the intraobserver (2.8% vs. 22.4%; p = 0.0084) and the interobserver group (24% vs. 40.8%, p = 0.0427). Both intraobserver and interobserver variability in ultrasound-based TV measurements in pubertal boys contain a relevant degree of uncertainty that renders them unsuitable for individualized follow-up care. At the cohort level, however, mean differences in ultrasound-based TV measurements are low enough to make ultrasound comparisons reasonable.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, in adults Pedersen et al demonstrated a low variability in estimating testicular volume, with an excellent interobserver agreement. They concluded that ultrasound provides a highly reproducible tool to determine testicular volume [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intra- and Interobserver Variability in Ultrasound Measurement of Testicular Volumes in Pubertal Boys

Schäfer,

Bürgener,

Stehr

et al. 2024

Children

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Super‐resolution ultrasound localization microscopy for the non‐invasive imaging of human testicular microcirculation and its differential diagnosis role in male infertility

Li,

Chen,

Yan

et al. 2024

VIEW

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Testicular microcirculation is closely related to spermatogenic function and seminiferous tubular function. The diagnosis and monitoring of testicular diseases can be associated with testicular microcirculation; however, there are currently no effective non‐invasive methods for super‐resolution imaging of testicular microcirculation. In this study, we introduced state‐of‐the‐art graph‐based tracking with the Kalman motion model algorithm to non‐invasively image human testicular microcirculation for the first time with a regular frame‐rate clinical ultrasound imaging system (37 Hz). Two distinct testicular vessels with an 81 µm separation were resolved in the testicular vasculature, surpassing all other imaging modalities. In a retrospective study, we performed contrast‐enhanced ultrasound examinations(CEUS) and ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) processing on the included 76 infertile patients and 15 healthy controls from August 2021 to May 2023 and obtained super‐resolution images of testicular microcirculation with sub‐diffraction resolution. Through the results of one‐way analysis of variance tests and receiver operating characteristic analyses, we found that the ULM‐based parameters hold promise as clinical guidance for differentiating between non‐obstructive and obstructive male infertility. The mean vessel diameter achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.920 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.847–0.994, p < .001) with a cut‐off value of 170.9 µm in oligoasthenospermia, and an AUC of 0.952 (95% CI: 0.875–1.000, p < .001) with a cut‐off value of 169.9 µm in azoospermia patients, respectively, addressing a significant clinical challenge.

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Ultrasound assessment of testicular volume - An interobserver variability study

Cited by 2 publications

References 32 publications

Intra- and Interobserver Variability in Ultrasound Measurement of Testicular Volumes in Pubertal Boys

Intra- and Interobserver Variability in Ultrasound Measurement of Testicular Volumes in Pubertal Boys

Super‐resolution ultrasound localization microscopy for the non‐invasive imaging of human testicular microcirculation and its differential diagnosis role in male infertility

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