Interobserver reproducibility of qualitative and quantitative analysis of intravascular ultrasound images before and after peripheral balloon angioplasty.

In this study, interobserver agreement on intravascular ultrasound data obtained before and after balloon angioplasty (PTA) of the superficial femoral artery was assessed. Two observers analyzed intravascular ultrasound cross-sections from 38 patients. Interobserver agreement was good for soft and hard lesions, dissection and vascular damage (kappa values 0.61, 0.67, 0.69 and 0.66, respectively); moderate for eccentric lesions (kappa 0.45); fair for media ruptures (kappa 0.25); and poor for lipid deposits and plaque ruptures (kappa 0.0 and 0.04, respectively). Differences for the arc of normal wall and hard lesion were not significant, but were for dissection. There were no significant interobserver differences between area measurements. The coefficient of variation for free lumen area and media-bounded area before PTA was 17.2% and 10.5% and after PTA 11.2% and 9.2%, respectively. This study identified the intravascular ultrasound parameters that are reproducible.