Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29306882›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2018

Similarity of chest X-ray and thermal imaging of focal pneumonia: a randomised proof of concept study at a large urban teaching hospital.

Linda T Wang, Robert H Cleveland, William Binder, Robert G Zwerdling, Caterina Stamoulis, Thomas Ptak, Mindy Sherman, Kenan Haver, Pallavi Sagar, Patricia Hibberd

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Linda T WangDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Robert H ClevelandDepartment of Radiology and Department of Medicine, Boston Childrens Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
William BinderDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Alpert School of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Robert G ZwerdlingDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
Caterina Stamoulis
Thomas PtakDepartment of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center and The R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Mindy ShermanDepartment of Emergency Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Kenan HaverDepartment of Medicine, Boston Childrens Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Pallavi SagarDepartment of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Patricia HibberdDepartment of Global Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Massachusetts General Hospital · USBoston Children's Hospital · USBoston University · USBrown University · USUniversity of Maryland Medical Center · USUniversity of Massachusetts Chan Medical School · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the diagnostic accuracy of thermal imaging (TI) in the setting of focal consolidative pneumonia with chest X-ray (CXR) as the gold standard.

settingA large, 973-bed teaching hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

participants47 patients enrolled, 15 in a training set, 32 in a test set. Age range 10 months to 82 years (median=50 years). MATERIALS AND

methodsSubjects received CXR with subsequent TI within 4 hours of each other. CXR and TI were assessed in blinded random order. Presence of focal opacity (pneumonia) on CXR, the outcome parameter, was recorded. For TI, presence of area(s) of increased heat (pneumonia) was recorded. Fisher's exact test was used to assess the significance of the correlations of positive findings in the same anatomical region.

resultsWith TI compared with the CXR (the outcome parameter), sensitivity was 80.0% (95% CIs 29.9% to 98.9%), specificity was 57.7% (95% CI 37.2% to 76.0%). Positive predictive value of TI was 26.7% (95% CI 8.9% to55.2%) and its negative predictive value was 93.8% (95% CI 67.7% to 99.7%).

conclusionsThis feasibility study confirms proof of concept that chest TI is consistent with CXR in suggesting similarly localised focal pneumonia with high sensitivity and negative predictive value. Further investigation of TI as a point-of-care imaging modality is warranted.

Indexed as

Hospitals, TeachingRadiography, ThoracicThermographyAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnalysis of VarianceChildChild, PreschoolFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansInfantMaleMassachusettsChest ImagingDiagnostic RadiologyPaediatric RadiologyRespiratory Infections

Identifiers

PMID29306882
PMCPMC5780734
OpenAlexW2782397640

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.