Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32421522›Full record

ArticleThe western journal of emergency medicine2020

Assessment of Vessel Density on Non-Contrast Computed Tomography to Detect Basilar Artery Occlusion.

Andrew W Asimos, D Richard Sassano, Stephen C Jackson, Jonathan D Clemente, Jeremy B Rhoten, Brenda Chang, Michael S Runyon

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The western journal of emergency medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 32% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Age and discharge modified Rankin score are associated with 90-Day functional outcome after basilar artery occlusion treated with endovascular therapy.Interventional neuroradiology : journal of peritherapeutic neuroradiology, surgical procedures and related neurosciences · 2021
    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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Andrew W AsimosAtrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Charlotte, North Carolina.
D Richard SassanoBrody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
Stephen C JacksonAtrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jonathan D ClementeAtrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jeremy B RhotenAtrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Neurosciences, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Brenda ChangAtrium Health, Information and Analytics Services, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Michael S RunyonAtrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Carolinas Medical Center · USAtrium Medical Cente · USEast Carolina University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionBasilar artery occlusion (BAO) may be clinically occult due to variable and non-specific symptomatology. We evaluated the qualitative and quantitative determination of a hyperdense basilar artery (HDBA) on non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) brain for the diagnosis of BAO.

methodsWe conducted a case control study of patients with confirmed acute BAO vs a control group of suspected acute stroke patients without BAO. Two EM attending physicians, one third-year EM resident, and one medical student performed qualitative and quantitative assessments for the presence of a HDBA on axial NCCT images. Our primary outcome measures were sensitivity and specificity for BAO. Our secondary outcomes were inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the qualitative and quantitative assessments.

resultsWe included 60 BAO and 65 control patients in our analysis. Qualitative assessment of the hyperdense basilar artery sign was poorly sensitive (54%-72%) and specific (55%-89%). Quantitative measurement improved the specificity of hyperdense basilar artery assessment for diagnosing BAO, with a threshold of 61.0-63.8 Hounsfield units demonstrating relatively high specificity of 85%-94%. There was moderate inter-rater agreement for the qualitative assessment of HDBA (Fleiss' kappa statistic 0.508, 95% confidence interval: 0.435-0.581). Agreement improved for quantitative assessments, but still fell in the moderate range (Shrout-Fleiss intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.635). Intra-rater reliability for the quantitative assessments of the two attending physician reviewers demonstrated substantial consistency.

conclusionOur results highlight the importance of carefully examining basilar artery density when interpreting the NCCT of patients with altered consciousness or other signs and symptoms concerning for an acute basilar artery occlusion. If the Hounsfield unit density of the basilar artery exceeds 61 Hounsfield units, BAO should be highly suspected.

Indexed as

Basilar ArteryStrokeAgedArterial Occlusive DiseasesCase-Control StudiesFemaleHumansMaleOutcome Assessment, Health CareReproducibility of ResultsSensitivity and SpecificityTomography, X-Ray Computed

Identifiers

PMID32421522
PMCPMC7234696
OpenAlexW3020942099

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.