Interobserver agreement on the diagnosis of carotid artery calcifications on panoramic radiographs

PURPOSE This study was performed to investigate the interobserver agreement on the detection of carotid artery calcifications on panoramic radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study consisted of panoramic radiographs acquired from 634 male patients of the age of 50 years or older. Having excluded carotids of no diagnostic quality, 1008 carotids from the panoramic radiographs of the patients were interpreted by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists independently for the presence of carotid artery calcifications. Statistical analysis was used to calculate the interobserver agreement. RESULTS Interobserver agreement was obtained for 932 carotids (92.4%). Inconsistent interpretation of 76 carotids (7.5%) between the two observers was found. Cohen's kappa value was 0.688 (p<0.001). CONCLUSION The probability of a match between the two observers was substantially high.