Reliability analysis for coronal cobb angle measurements of digitally acquired photograph to the 30 x 90 cm films in adult scoliosis: comparison among two observers and three digital cameras.

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Matias Petracchi
Félix Imposti
Marcelo Valacco
Carlos Sola
Marcelo Gruenberg

Abstract

BackgroundDigital photography to radiographs can generate angular distortions to the images. It is not published if these distortions can affect the lines used for Cobb measurements in routine practice.Objective:­To analyze reliability for coronal Cobb angle measurements of digitally acquired photograph to the 30 x 90 cm plain films in adult scoliosis.MethodsTwenty anteroposterior long-cassette scoliosis radiographs from adult patients who were operated on in one institution were randomly selected and prospectively studied. The endplates of the curves were selected and marked by one observer. The radiographs were scanned and the digital images were used as controls. The variability of the measurements was evaluated with three digital cameras and two observers making eight photographic sessions to each long-film. Over the digital images the Cobb angles were measured using Adobe Photoshop® and they were analyzed with the Pearson correlation coefficient.ResultsThe overall mean thoracic and lumbar Cobb an- gles for the scanned, camera 1, 2 and 3 were 37.9, 37.8, 37.7, 37.5, 53.2, 53.1, 53.3, 52.9, respectively. The interobserver and intraobserver agreement was extremely high, as well as across cameras and scanner.ConclusionThe Cobb angle can be measured after digitally photographed films with high reliability among different cameras and observers.

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How to Cite
Petracchi, M., Imposti, F., Valacco, M., Sola, C., & Gruenberg, M. (2013). Reliability analysis for coronal cobb angle measurements of digitally acquired photograph to the 30 x 90 cm films in adult scoliosis: comparison among two observers and three digital cameras. Revista De La Asociación Argentina De Ortopedia Y Traumatología, 78(4), 210-216. https://doi.org/10.15417/144
Section
Clinical Research

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