Structured Reporting in the Characterization of Renal Cysts by Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) Using the Bosniak Classification System—Improvement of Report Quality and Interdisciplinary Communication

Abstract

Background: This study aims to evaluate the potential benefits of structured reporting (SR) compared to conventional free-text reporting (FTR) in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of cystic renal lesions, based on the Bosniak classification. Methods: Fifty patients with cystic renal lesions who underwent CEUS were included in this single-center study. FTR created in clinical routine were compared to SR retrospectively generated by using a structured reporting template. Two experienced urologists evaluated the reports regarding integrity, effort for information extraction, linguistic quality, and overall quality. Results: The required information could easily be extracted by the reviewers in 100% of SR vs. 82% of FTR (p p p p < 0.001)). Conclusions: SR significantly increases the quality of radiologic reports in CEUS examinations of cystic renal lesions compared to conventional FTR and represents a promising approach to facilitate interdisciplinary communication in the future.

Keywords

• structured reporting
• CEUS
• contrast-enhanced ultrasound
• Bosniak classification
• renal lesions