Glomerular Filtration Rate by Gamma Camera-Based Method: Interobserver Agreement at a Single Centre

The objective of this study was to determine interobserver agreement (IOA) in the calculation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) by the gamma camera-based method. It was a cross-sectional prospective study carried out at the Nuclear Medical Centre, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from December 2021 to August 2022. A total of 52 patients with a median age of 47.20 years (range = 2-77 years) were included. All the patients underwent technetium-99m diethylene triamine pentaacetate (Tc-99m DTPA) renal scan following a standard protocol, and the scans were processed by the same group of three different observers. The patients were divided into four groups. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for interobserver agreement in GFR estimation were as follows: Group 1 = 0.988 (95% CI: 0.971- 0.996), Group 2 = 0.997 (95% CI: 0.990 - 0.999), Group 3 = 0.985 (95% CI: 0.960 - 0.995), and Group 4 = 0.991 (95% CI, 0.976 - 0.996). The present study found excellent agreement among observers in estimating GFR using the gamma camera-based method. Key Words: Glomerular filtration rate, Interobserver variability, Intraclass correlation coefficient, Gamma camera imaging 99mTc-DTPA.