DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY OF TWINKLING ARTIFACT FOR URINARY TRACT STONES TAKING NON-CONTRAST COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AS STANDARD

Abstract

Objective: To study the sensitivity and specificity of Doppler scan twinkling artifact in diagnosis of urinary tract stones and comparing it non-contrast computed tomography (CT) of the kidney ureter bladder (KUB) as the gold standard

Study Design: Prospective observational study

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Radiology, Pak-Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from July 2023 to June 2024

Methodology: A total of 170 patients were analyzed in the final study protocol. All patients included with clinical suspicion of urinary tract stones had to undergo both the Doppler ultrasound and non-contrast computed tomography (CT) of the kidney, ureter and bladder. Primary variables studied were sensitivity and specificity of the Doppler ultrasound in diagnosing urinary tract stones when compared with gold standard non-contrast CT scan. 

Results: Doppler ultrasound with the presence of a twinkling artifact showed a total sensitivity of 85.4% when compared with the gold standard non-contrast CT scan with a specificity of 92.5%. It had a positive predictive value of 97.4% while the negative predictive value was 66.1%. The diagnostic accuracy of the test in detecting stones in the kidney and urinary tract was 87.0%

Conclusion: We conclude that twinkling artifact on Doppler ultrasound offers good sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of urinary tract stones when compared with gold standard non-contract computed tomography (CT) in patients.