Equilibrium radionuclide angiography: Present and future

Excerpt

This editorial refers to the article published by Sachpekidis et al1 titled ‘Equilibrium radionuclide angiography (ERNA): intra- and interobserver repeatability and reproducibility in the assessment of cardiac systolic and diastolic function’ on the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. The objective of this study was to assess the intra- and interobserver agreement in assessing the systolic and diastolic function with ERNA. The authors analyzed thirty-two adults underwent baseline and repeat ERNA. An experienced and a trainee operator analyzed the data by assigning regions of interest manually, fully automatically, and semi-automatically. The Bland–Altman statistic was used to assess the repeatability (two different assessments of a single acquisition) and reproducibility (assessments of two different acquisitions). According to the obtained results, the Authors concluded that: ‘A good repeatability but a moderate reproducibility was found in the assessment of the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Less good were the findings in the assessment of diastolic function. The results also depended on the software tool’. …