The influence of contrast enhancement and experience of observers on the assessment of mediastinal lymph nodes in sarcoidosis patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the influence of contrast enhancement (CE) and experience of observers on the assessment of chest lymph nodes in patients with sarcoidosis.

Material and methods: A retrospective analysis of chest lymph nodes on computed tomography (CT) examinations, including CE and non-contrast-enhanced (non-CE) phase, was performed on 40 patients with proven diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Phases were separated, anonymized, and randomized. The assessment was performed by 5 observers: 2 general radiologists, 2 residents, and a senior chest CT expert.

Results: There were no significant differences between radiologists and residents, apart from the determination of the 4R node short diameter on CE images. Agreement between the reference observer and both residents and specialists was equally high, without any significant difference in the assessment all chest nodes and hilar nodes, and between non-CE and CE images. There was a significant difference between all observers in the determination of the largest 4R node short diameter on non-CE images, but not on CE images. The number of affected node levels was found to be significantly higher when evaluated on CE images than on non-CE images. Compared to CE images, non-CE computed tomography has sensitivity of 0.94-1.00 and specificity of 0.98-1.00, depending on the observer.

Conclusions: The application of contrast medium has a limited impact on the quality of assessment of the chest lymph nodes in patients with sarcoidosis, regardless of the experience of the observer.