[ROC comparison of visualization of hand fractures using digital and conventional techniques].

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of digital luminescence radiography (DLR) and conventional film-screen radiography (FSR) in diagnosing fractures.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Both conventional and digital radiographs were acquired from a consecutive series of 57 patients with suspected wrist or hand fractures. The digital images were obtained with a 30% dose reduction. A ROC-analysis (receiver-operating characteristics) was performed.

RESULTS

The area under the curve was 0.89 for conventional FSR, 0.93 for DLR, "gray scale" and 0.94 for DLR, "edge enhanced".

CONCLUSIONS

Although its spatial resolution is lower, DLR provided better results than conventional FSR, when contrast processing algorithms were optimised for the specific clinical question. The edge-enhanced version was superior to the non-edge enhanced version. The reason for this seems to be the higher contrast resolution of DLR compared to FSR.