Interobserver agreement in the assessment of lobar versus deep location of intracerebral haematomas on CT

In patients with supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), it is important to discriminate superficial (lobar) and deep (basal ganglia) location, since this has consequences for research and prognosis. Haemorrhages at these sites have different causes and different risk factors. We studied the interobserver variation between three radiologists in classifying fifty large haematomas on CT as deep or lobar. The kappa values were almost perfect, ranging from 0.88 to 0.96. We conclude that the assessment of CT by radiologist is a reliable method to discriminate between lobar versus deep origin even for large intracerebral haematomas.