Table 1.

Assessment of intra- and inter-observer variability of ascending and descending aortic measurements

INTRA-OBSERVER
Location	Ascending aorta (n = 15)			Descending aorta (n = 15)
Variable	c (m/s)	peak FCW (×10-5 m/s)	peak FEW (×10-5 m/s)	c (m/s)	peak FCW (×10-5 m/s)	peak FEW (×10-5 m/s)
ICC	0.961	0.894	0.391	0.976	0.869	0.88
95 % CI	0.887-0.987	0.715-0.963	−0.153-0.754	0.929-0.992	0.654-0.984	0.680-0.958
Bias	0.03	−0.2	−0.1	−0.1	0.3	0.2
Limits of agreement	−0.7-0.76	−5.9-5.5	−2.9-2.6	−0.4-0.2	−6.6-7.2	−1.2-1.6
INTER-OBSERVER
Location	Ascending aorta (n = 15)			Descending aorta (n = 15)
Variable	c (m/s)	peak FCW (×10-5 m/s)	peak FEW (×10-5 m/s)	c (m/s)	peak FCW (×10-5 m/s)	peak FEW (×10-5 m/s)
ICC	0.937	0.84	0.315	0.635	0.694	0.863
95 % CI	0.903-0.989	0.588-0.943	−0.238-0.713	0.201-0.860	0.301-0.886	0.641-0.952
Bias	−0.07	3.8	0.02	−0.2	4.2	0.3
Limits of agreement	−0.96-0.83	−2.1-9.6	−1.8-1.9	−1.5-1.1	−5.1-13.5	−1.2-1.9

ICC = intraclass correlation coefficient; CI = confidence interval; c = wave speed, FCW = forward compression wave; FEW = forward expansion wave.