BACKGROUND Fetal and neonatal studies report a wide range of cardiac parameters derived by pulsed-wave Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) and two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiographic (STE) imaging. The use of different ultrasound systems and their vendor-specific software compromises the ability to compare echocardiographic findings among various studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate intervendor reproducibility as well as intra- and interobserver repeatability of DTI and STE measurements in normal-term fetuses and neonates. METHODS A prospective study was conducted of term fetuses (n = 196) from uncomplicated pregnancies assessed days before the onset of labor and a few hours after birth. Fetal and neonatal DTI and STE parameters were obtained and analyzed using vendor-specific software on three ultrasound systems: Toshiba Aplio MX versus GE Vivid E9 and GE Vivid E9 versus Philips EPIQ. A reproducibility study in fetuses and neonates (n = 118) was performed by systematic scanning with head-to-head comparison. RESULTS DTI reproducibility showed moderate to good correlation, with good agreement for fetuses and neonates on Toshiba versus GE (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.4-0.8). Correlation of DTI measurements on GE versus Philips was poor to moderate for fetuses (ICC = 0.1-0.6) and moderate to good for neonates (ICC = 0.5-0.8), with wider limits of agreement. Fetal and neonatal STE parameters revealed very poor correlation (ICC = 0.1-0.3) and agreement among ultrasound vendors. Intra- and interobserver repeatability demonstrated good to excellent correlation of all fetal and neonatal DTI and STE measurements, with good agreement irrespective of the ultrasound platform used. CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate reliable assessment of fetal and neonatal DTI and STE measurements when performed on the same ultrasound platform, whereas ultrasound machines and software from different vendors give significantly divergent estimates of DTI and STE parameters in fetuses and neonates. These intervendor discrepancies have significant clinical and research implications and should be considered when interpreting and comparing study findings, establishing reference standards, or performing systematic reviews.

中文翻译：

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胎儿和新生儿心肌组织多普勒和斑点追踪测量值的供应商间不一致。

背景技术胎儿和新生儿研究报告了通过脉冲波多普勒组织成像（DTI）和二维散斑跟踪超声心动图（STE）成像得出的广泛的心脏参数。使用不同的超声系统及其特定于供应商的软件会损害在各种研究中比较超声心动图检查结果的能力。这项研究的目的是评估正常足月胎儿和新生儿间的供应商可重复性，以及DTI和STE测量值的观察者间和观察者间的可重复性。方法进行了一项前瞻性研究，对来自分娩开始前几天和分娩后几个小时的简单妊娠的足月胎儿（n = 196）进行了研究。胎儿和新生儿的DTI和STE参数已获得，并使用特定于供应商的软件在以下三个超声系统上进行了分析：东芝Aplio MX与GE Vivid E9对比，GE Vivid E9与Philips EPIQ对比。通过头对头比较的系统扫描，对胎儿和新生儿（n = 118）进行了可重复性研究。结果DTI重现性显示出中等至良好的相关性，东芝与GE的胎儿和新生儿具有良好的一致性（类内相关系数[ICC] = 0.4-0.8）。对于胎儿，GE与Philips的DTI测量值的相关性差（中等至中等）（ICC = 0.1-0.6），而新生儿的中等至良好（ICC = 0.5-0.8），且协议范围更广。胎儿和新生儿的STE参数显示出非常差的相关性（ICC = 0.1-0.3），并且在超声销售商之间达成了一致。观察者之间和观察者之间的重复性表明，所有胎儿和新生儿DTI和STE测量值之间的相关性极佳，无论使用哪种超声平台，都具有良好的一致性。结论这些发现证明了在相同的超声平台上进行胎儿和新生儿DTI和STE测量的可靠评估，而来自不同供应商的超声机器和软件对胎儿和新生儿的DTI和STE参数的估计差异很大。这些供应商之间的差异具有重大的临床和研究意义，在解释和比较研究结果，建立参考标准或进行系统评价时应考虑这些差异。而来自不同供应商的超声波机器和软件对胎儿和新生儿的DTI和STE参数的估计差异很大。这些供应商之间的差异具有重大的临床和研究意义，在解释和比较研究结果，建立参考标准或进行系统评价时应考虑这些差异。而来自不同供应商的超声波机器和软件对胎儿和新生儿的DTI和STE参数的估计差异很大。这些供应商之间的差异具有重大的临床和研究意义，在解释和比较研究结果，建立参考标准或进行系统评价时应考虑这些差异。