Interobserver Reliability of the Endoscopic Ultrasound Criteria for the Diagnosis of Early Chronic Pancreatitis: Comparison between the 2009 and 2019 Japanese Diagnostic Criteria

Akira Yamamiya; Atsushi Irisawa; Keiichi Tominaga; Kohei Tsuchida; Takeshi Sugaya; Misako Tsunemi; Koki Hoshi; Hidehito Jinnai; Akane Yamabe; Naoya Izawa; Mari Iwasaki; Yoichi Takimoto; Akira Kanamori; Kazunori Nagashima; Takahito Minaguchi; Ken Kashima; Yasuhito Kunogi; Ai Sato; Kenichi Goda; Makoto Iijima; Yasuo Haruyama

doi:10.3390/diagnostics11030431

Interobserver Reliability of the Endoscopic Ultrasound Criteria for the Diagnosis of Early Chronic Pancreatitis: Comparison between the 2009 and 2019 Japanese Diagnostic Criteria

Diagnostics (Basel). 2021 Mar 3;11(3):431. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11030431.

Authors

Akira Yamamiya¹, Atsushi Irisawa¹, Keiichi Tominaga¹, Kohei Tsuchida¹, Takeshi Sugaya¹, Misako Tsunemi¹, Koki Hoshi¹, Hidehito Jinnai¹, Akane Yamabe¹, Naoya Izawa¹, Mari Iwasaki¹, Yoichi Takimoto¹, Akira Kanamori¹, Kazunori Nagashima¹, Takahito Minaguchi¹, Ken Kashima¹, Yasuhito Kunogi¹, Ai Sato², Kenichi Goda¹, Makoto Iijima¹, Yasuo Haruyama³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, 880 Kitakobayashi Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan.
² Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Nikko Medical Center, 632 Takatoku Nikko, Tochigi 321-2593, Japan.
³ Department of Public Health, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, 880 Kitakobayashi Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan.

Abstract

In 2009, diagnostic criteria for early chronic pancreatitis (DCECP2009) were proposed by the Japan Pancreas Society. This study aimed to evaluate the interobserver reliability (IOR) of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) criteria for diagnosis of early chronic pancreatitis (ECP) between DCECP2009 and 2019 diagnostic criteria for ECP (DCECP2019) to assess the validity of the revision from the perspective of EUS findings. Among patients who underwent a detailed observation of the pancreas by EUS at our institution between January 2018 and March 2019, EUS images of 97 patients were extracted. Images were reviewed by 12 gastrointestinal endoscopy experts (eight pancreatologists, group A and four nonpancreatologists, group B). The overall kappa (K)-values for the IOR of the DCECP2009 EUS criteria were 0.424 and 0.563:0.231 for groups A:B, whereas the overall K-values for the DCECP2019 criteria were 0.618, and 0.733:0.442 for groups A:B. Regarding changes in the final diagnosis of ECP based on clinical features and EUS findings, 20 cases were definite ECP, 53 were probable ECP, and 24 were normal according to DCECP2009. In contrast, seven were definite ECP, 19 were probable ECP, and 71 were normal according to DECEP2019. IOR of DCECP2019 was higher than that of DCECP2009, which indicates an improvement in precision.

Keywords: early chronic pancreatitis; endoscopic ultrasound; interobserver reliability.