AI may estimate chest fluid with similar efficacy to radiologists

A general-purpose AI model performed comparably to experienced readers, but substantial errors highlighted the limits of chest radiography for quantifying pleural fluid.

By
Andrea Surnit
October 6, 2026
4 min

MDSpire News

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An AI model demonstrated comparable accuracy to radiologists in estimating pleural effusion volume on chest radiography.
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Moderate agreement was observed between all three approaches and computed tomography, with substantial estimation errors.
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Mean estimation errors were 300 mL for radiologist 1, 250 mL for radiologist 2, and 264 mL for AI.
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Radiologist 2 outperformed AI in identifying pleural effusions, while performance did not differ statistically between radiologist 1 and AI.
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The study's limitations included its retrospective nature, single-institution setting, and potential spectrum bias affecting generalizability.

AI may estimate chest fluid with similar efficacy to radiologists

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Original Source(s)

AI may estimate chest fluid with similar efficacy to radiologists

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