Determination of appropriate exposure angles for the reverse water's view using a head phantom

Early diagnosis for upper facial trauma is difficult by using the standard Water's view (S-Water's) in general radiograph due to overlapping of anatomical structures, the uncertainty of patient positioning, and specific patients with obese, pediatric, old, or high-risk. The purpose of this study was to analyze appropriate exposure angles through a comparison of two different protocols (S-Water's vs. reverse Water's view (R-Water's)) by using a head phantom. A head phantom and general radiograph with 75 kVp, 400 mA, 45 ms 18 mAs, and SID 100 cm. Images of R-Water's were obtained by different angles in the range of 0 degree to 50 degrees, which adjusted an angle at 1 degree interval in supine position. Survey elements were developed and three observers were evaluated with four elements including the maxillary sinus, zygomatic arch, petrous ridge, and image distortion. Statistical significant analysis were used the Krippendorff's alpha and Fleiss' kappa. The intra-class correlation (ICC) coefficient for three observers were high with maxillary, 0.957 (0.903, 0.995); zygomatic arch, 0.939 (0.866, 0.987); petrous ridge, 0.972 (0.897, 1.000); and image distortion, 0.949 (0.830, 1.000). The high-quality image (HI) and perfect agreement (PA) for acquired exposure angles were high in range of the maxillary sinus (36 degrees – 44 degrees), zygomatic arch (33 degrees – 40 degrees), petrous ridge (32 degrees – 50 degrees), and image distortion (44 degrees– 50 degrees). Consequently, an appropriate exposure angles for the R-Water's view in the supine position for patients with facial trauma are in the from 36 degrees to 40 degrees in this phantom study. The results of this study will be helpful for the rapid diagnosis of facial fractures by simple radiography