Association between clinical history in the radiographic request and diagnostic accuracy of thorax radiographs in dogs: A retrospective case-control study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The effect of clinical history on the interpretation of radiographs has been widely researched in human medicine. There is, however, no data on this topic in veterinary medicine. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Diagnostic accuracy would improve when history was supplied. ANIMALS Thirty client-owned dogs with abnormal findings on thoracic radiographs and confirmation of the disease, and 30 healthy client-owned controls were drawn retrospectively. METHODS: Retrospective case-control study. Sixty radiographic studies of the thorax were randomized and interpreted by 6 radiologists; first, with no access to the clinical information; and a second time with access to all pertinent clinical information and signalment. RESULTS: A significant increase in diagnostic accuracy was noted when clinical information was provided (64.4% without and 75.2% with clinical information; P = .002). There was no significant difference in agreement between radiologists when comparing no clinical information and with clinical information (Kappa 0.313 and 0.300, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE The addition of pertinent clinical information to the radiographic request significantly improves the diagnostic accuracy of thorax radiographs of dogs and is recommended as standard practice.