Reliability of the modified Tufts Lumbar Degenerative Disc Classification between neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists

• Cross-specialty reliability of imaging interpretation is critical to establish for degenerative lumbar disc disease.
• Poor reliability of observation of high intensity zones (HIZ) has been previously reported.
• We assessed the reliability of HIZ classification between different specialties.
• Removing HIZ from a classification of disc degeneration improved reliability.
• Future reliability studies are urged to incorporate cross-specialty comparisons.

Cross-specialty inter-rater reliability has not been explicitly reported for imaging characteristics that are thought to be important in lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration. Sufficient cross-specialty reliability is an essential consideration if radiographic stratification of symptomatic patients to specific treatment modalities is to ever be realized. Therefore the purpose of this study was to directly compare the assessment of such characteristics between neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists. Sixty consecutive patients with a diagnosis of lumbago and appropriate imaging were selected for inclusion. Lumbar MRI were evaluated using the Tufts Degenerative Disc Classification by two neurosurgeons and two neuroradiologists. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using Cohen’s κ values both within and between specialties. A sensitivity analysis was performed for a modified grading system, which excluded high intensity zones (HIZ), due to poor cross-specialty inter-rater reliability of HIZ between specialties. The reliability of HIZ between neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists was fair in two of the four cross-specialty comparisons in this study (neurosurgeon 1 versus both radiologists κ = 0.364 and κ = 0.290). Removing HIZ from the classification improved inter-rater reliability for all comparisons within and between specialties (0.465 ⩽ κ ⩽ 0.576). In addition, intra-rater reliability remained in the moderate to substantial range (0.523 ⩽ κ ⩽ 0.649). Given our findings and corroboration with previous studies, identification of HIZ seems to have a markedly variable reliability. Thus we recommend modification of the original Tufts Degenerative Disc Classification by removing HIZ in order to make the overall grade provided by this classification more reproducible when scored by practitioners of different training backgrounds.