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PubMed2006

Fine-needle aspirates of hepatocellular carcinoma that are misclassified as adenocarcinoma: correlating cytologic features and performance in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program.

CONTEXT: The cytologic features of hepatocellular carcinoma in fine-needle aspirates are well described. While some cases are easily distinguished from adenocarcinoma, poorly differentiated tumors can be difficult to differentiate. We reviewed the cytologic findings for 9 aspirates from cases of hepatocellular carcinoma that were frequently misclassified as adenocarcinoma and compared them with another 10 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma that were rarely misclassified. OBJECTIVE: To compare the cytologic features of cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in fine-needle aspirates that were both rarely and frequently misclassified as adenocarcinoma. DESIGN: We reviewed a total of 762 interpretations from 19 different cases of hepatocellular carcinoma in liver fine-needle aspiration specimens in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program and correlated the cytologic features with performance in the program. RESULTS: Overall, cases that were frequently misclassified as adenocarcinoma were misclassified 39% of the time (range, 18%-70%), while cases that were rarely misclassified were classified as adenocarcinoma 2% of the time (range, 0%-8%). The difference was statistically significant (P < .001). On review, 4 cytologic patterns were found. The most common pattern for cases that were rarely misclassified was prominent trabeculae of cells and endothelial cells wrapping the trabeculae (6/10 cases vs 2/9 cases that were frequently misclassified). The most common pattern among cases that were frequently misclassified was clusters of cells with granular cytoplasm and associated stripped nuclei (5/9 cases vs 2/10 cases that were rarely misclassified). However, the distribution of neither pattern was significantly different (P = .16 for both). One case with large atypical granular cells, as seen in the fibrolamellar variant, was rarely misclassified. The remaining 3 cases (2 frequently misclassified, 1 rarely misclassified) had a nonspecific a pattern of cells with granular cytoplasm without obvious trabeculae or stripped nuclei. CONCLUSION: Correctly classifying hepatocellular carcinoma by cytology alone remains a significant challenge. While some patterns are more common in cases that performed well and other patterns are more common in cases that performed poorly, there was no significant difference in the distribution of these patterns. These results suggest that people should support their interpretations of aspirations with either immunologic evidence, biopsy evidence, or review by an experienced cytopathologist. Continued educational efforts in this area may be of value.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed2006

Fine-needle aspiration of papillary thyroid carcinoma: distinguishing between cases that performed well and those that performed poorly in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program.

CONTEXT: Although the cytologic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma in fine-needle aspiration specimens are well known, the correlation of these features with the ability of cytologists to identify this tumor has not been well studied. OBJECTIVE: To compare the cytologic features of cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma that performed poorly with those of cases that performed well. DESIGN: The cytologic features of 13 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma from the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program that performed poorly were compared with those of 15 cases that performed well. RESULTS: Compared with cases that performed well, cases that performed poorly were significantly more likely to lack marked nuclear enlargement (38% vs 100%, P < .001), lack pale chromatin (8% vs 47%, P = .04), and lack intranuclear inclusions (8% vs 53%, P = .02). The differences between the 2 groups in staining, type of preparation, nuclear grooves, nuclear crowding, colloid, cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, and Hurthle cell change were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma that lack marked nuclear enlargement, pale chromatin, and intranuclear inclusions are significantly more difficult to recognize than cases that have these features. Increased awareness of these types of cases might improve the performance of thyroid fine-needle aspiration in clinical practice.

Adenocarcinoma, Papillary↗

PubMed2006

Performance accuracy of antibacterial and antifungal susceptibility test methods: report from the College of American Pathologists Microbiology Surveys Program (2001-2003).

CONTEXT: The College of American Pathologists Microbiology Surveys Program provides external proficiency samples that monitor the performance of nearly 3000 laboratories that perform and report antimicrobial susceptibility tests. OBJECTIVE: To summarize results obtained with bacterial and yeast challenge samples (2001 through 2003). DESIGN: One organism every 4 months was tested by surveys participants against antibacterials/antifungals by routinely used methods. Reports were graded by interpretive category (susceptible, intermediate, resistant) based on an 80% consensus of referees/participants. RESULTS: The most common antibacterial test methods/systems were Vitek (38%-43%), MicroScan (39%-43%), and the disk diffusion test (14%-15%), although Etest was most used for fastidious species. YeastOne was the dominant antifungal test (50%-55%). Antifungal results demonstrated continuous, improved accuracy (83%-88%), highest for YeastOne (96%) and broth microdilution (95%) methods. Antibacterial test accuracy was consistently greater than 97% against gram-positive organism challenges and greater than 98% against gram-negative challenges. For gram-negative strains with well-characterized resistance mechanisms, the accuracy by method was disk diffusion greater than broth microdilution greater than automated systems. Major problems identified were (1) Haemophilus influenzae control ranges require re-evaluation, (2) overuse of beta-lactamase tests, (3) errors among Enterococcus faecium against penicillins (Vitek 2, MicroScan), (4) false-susceptible results with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole against coagulase-negative staphylococci (MicroScan), (5) macrolide false-susceptibility for beta-hemolytic streptococcus (MicroScan), (6) flawed reporting for antimicrobials not active at the infection site, (7) use of outdated interpretive criteria, and (8) failure to follow Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute testing/reporting recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Susceptibility tests were generally performing satisfactorily as measured by the surveys, but serious errors were identified with some drug/organism combinations that may require action by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and/or the Food and Drug Administration.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

PubMed1996

Interinstitutional comparison of frozen section consultation in small hospitals: a College of American Pathologists Q-Probes study of 18,532 frozen section consultation diagnoses in 233 small hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: To study pathology intraoperative consultation practices and the accuracy of diagnoses made by frozen section. DESIGN: In 1994, participants in the College of American Pathologists Q-Probes laboratory quality improvement program each completed questionnaires and prospectively collected data on up to 20 frozen section procedures performed over a 5-month period. SETTING: Surgical pathology laboratories serving private and public hospitals with 300 or fewer occupied beds. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred thirty-two North American institutions and one New Zealand institution. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The discordance and deferral rates of frozen section diagnoses and the reasons for frozen section discordance relative to corresponding diagnoses made on permanent (paraffin) sections. Calculation of frozen section discordance rates excluded diagnoses of subtypes or grade of malignancy, biopsies on specimens in which there was no gross lesion (eg, mammographic specimens), thyroid follicular lesions, tissue taken only to determine adequacy for other studies (eg, estrogen-binding proteins), and frozen sections performed to evaluate margins of specimens oriented en face. RESULTS: Out of 18,532 frozen section diagnoses performed on 327,884 surgical cases, 859 (4.6%) diagnoses were deferred until permanent sections were available for review; 17,357 (98.2%) nondeferred diagnoses agreed with, and 316 (1.8%) disagreed with, those diagnoses rendered on permanent sections. The most common cause of discordance was underdiagnosis of neoplasia, usually due to block- or tissue-sampling errors. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that laboratories routinely monitor frozen section discordance, cut additional sections deeper into the frozen block and/or sample additional tissue when the initial frozen section diagnosis is negative or nonproductive, reconcile all discordant frozen section diagnoses in the final report, and periodically assess the value of performing frozen section examinations.

Diagnostic Errors↗

PubMed1996

Reasons for proficiency testing failures in clinical chemistry and blood gas analysis: a College of American Pathologists Q-Probes study in 665 laboratories.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the reasons for proficiency testing (PT) failures from 41 chemistry and blood gas analytes using data collected to benchmark performance. DESIGN: Self-administered survey requesting number of challenges by analyte encompassing nine PT events. When the challenge resulted in a self-defined failure, further information was requested concerning the magnitude of the failure (as a standard deviation index) and categorization of the type of failure into six major groups (Methodologic, Technical, Clerical, Survey, Unexplained, or Other) and then into subgroups. PARTICIPANTS: Laboratories enrolled in the 1992 College of American Pathologists Q-Probes program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rate of PT failures and reasons for failure. RESULTS: Proficiency testing data from 670,489 challenges performed in 665 laboratories revealed 9268 (1.4%) unacceptable results. Failure types were distributed as follows: Methodologic, 33.5%; Technical, 17.4%; Clerical, 11.1%; Survey, 7.8%; Unexplained, 25.7%; and Other, 7.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Individual analyte PT failure is a common event in the participating laboratories, but failures in successive or alternate events are rare. Analysis of the reasons for failed events indicates that most identified reasons occurred in either the Methodologic or Technical categories (50.9%). Analysis of the failure types suggested investigation pathways based on the magnitude of the failure that could reduce the 25.7% rate of unexplained failures.

Blood Gas Analysis↗

PubMed1977

The concept of minimal breast cancer and the pathologist's role in the diagnosis of "early carcinoma".

Minimal breast cancer has been variously defined as a lesion 1 cm or less, or even 5 mm or less. Some authorities consider intraductal cancer and lobular carcinoma in situ as minimal, but we believe that these should be excluded from consideration. Minimal cancer is not early cancer inasmuch as a 1 cm lesion represents 30 doubling times, and a certain percentage of these small cancers have already disseminated. The pathologist's responsibility in diagnosing minimal cancer has become more difficult. His problem is in three major areas: Is this proliferative cystic lesion cancer? Is this lobular or intraductal proliferative lesion in situ carcinoma? And if so, he must be concerned also with the treatment as well as the diagnosis. In any screening program, these minimal cancers, either invasive or in situ, should be evaluated by a group of experts in order that the program be entirely accurate.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1987

Agreement rates and American-Japanese pathologists' comparability of a modified Working Formulation for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. An analysis of the cases collected for the Fifth International Workshop on Chromosomes in Leukemia-Lymphoma.

Histopathologic slides of 368 cases collected from 16 institutions around the world for the Fifth International Chromosome Workshop were independently reviewed by a group of five hematopathologists consisting of two Americans and three Japanese. Agreement rates of their diagnoses using the Working Formulation (WF) for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas were studied. A modified classification scheme of the WF was used in order to define cytologic subtypes more specifically, enabling 65 possible diagnostic choices. Data analyses by computer revealed that at least four out of five diagnostic agreements were observed in 290 cases (78.9%). Similar agreements were observed in more than 80% of the cases for most of the categories of the WF, excepting diffuse small cleaved (73.3%), diffuse mixed (64.2%), diffuse large cell (76.5%), and immunoblastic lymphoma (70.2%). Agreement rates between American and Japanese pathologists did not demonstrate statistically significant differences against expected values. It was concluded that the WF was a reliable and useful classification system for multi-institutional as well as international projects, although refinements may be necessary in some categories for better diagnostic agreement.

Humans↗

PubMed1990

The role of the pathologist in breast cancer management.

The pathologist is a consultant in breast cancer patient management whose first responsibility is to establish the histologic diagnosis of cancer as well as its anatomic extent when sufficient tissue has been provided. The consultation also provides data that may be used to aid in selecting primary or adjuvant therapy, evaluating new therapies, estimating prognosis and assessing outcome. Examples of such data are the TNM histopathologic classification of the anatomic extent of the cancer used for the stage grouping (T: the extent of the primary tumor; N: the absence or presence and extent of regional lymph node metastasis; M: the absence or presence of distant metastasis), size, histologic type, histologic and/or nuclear grade, blood vessel and lymphatic vessel invasion assessment, steroid receptor analysis, and other special studies as appropriate.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed1993

Specimen adequacy evaluation in gynecologic cytopathology: current laboratory practice in the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program and tentative guidelines for future practice.

Routine specimen adequacy evaluation, as advocated by The Bethesda System (TBS), can play an important role in improving the sensitivity and accuracy of cervical cytopathology screening. The effectiveness of this measure, however, has been limited by the lack of uniform criteria for adequacy. Practice parameters are now emerging, through TBS development of tentative criteria and interlaboratory comparison of adequacy practices. This study reviews 1) nationwide responses to surveys of laboratory practices in the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Cervicovaginal Cytology (CAP PAP); 2) the definitions of adequacy based on TBS; and 3) the results of implementation of these criteria in a private independent laboratory, university hospital laboratory, and private nonprofit hospital laboratory. In the initial CAP PAP survey in 1990, 35% of responding laboratories routinely reported specimen adequacy, increasing to 66% in 1991 and 85% in 1992. Interlaboratory variations in adequacy practices were observed, however, underscoring the need for consensus criteria. The experience in the authors' laboratories indicates that TBS criteria can serve as a sound guideline. Effective implementation of adequacy assessment in the individual laboratory requires careful attention to ensuring the quality of adequacy ratings, correlating clinical and prior laboratory information, issuing clear and concise reports, and giving recommendations judiciously. Through interlaboratory comparison and consistent intralaboratory emphasis on specimen adequacy, greater uniformity of adequacy assessment can be achieved, and adequacy evaluation can achieve its promise of improving the quality of cervical cytopathology.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗

PubMed2001

Unusual T- and T/NK- cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the larynx: a diagnostic challenge for clinicians and pathologists.

BACKGROUND: Lymphomas of T-cell and T/natural killer (T/NK)-cell types rarely involve the larynx. Early symptoms are subtle and nonspecific, and confirmation of the diagnosis is often difficult. Because of the rarity of this disease entity, the optimal management remains controversial. METHODS: The case records of patients with the diagnosis of lymphoma involving the larynx were retrospectively reviewed. Details of the pathologic condition, the difficulties in diagnosis, and treatment were presented. RESULTS: One case of T-cell lymphoma (Lennert's lymphoma subtype) and two cases of T/NK-cell lymphomas involving the larynx were presented. The diagnoses were all difficult to establish. All three patients received either multiagent chemotherapy or radiotherapy as the first-line treatment. They all died of the disease within 32 months of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: T- and T/NK-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the larynx is a diagnostic challenge for clinicians and pathologists. Conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy has not been effective. A more aggressive therapy should be considered.

Adult↗

PubMed1981

The pathologist's role in a multidisciplinary approach for soft part tissue sarcoma: a reappraisal (39 cases).

A combined treatment modality of radiotherapy, surgery, and monochemotherapy in 39 cases of soft tissue sarcomas is presented. The 39 patients presented initially with local disease only, without evidence of metastases. At the end of the surgical procedure the adequacy of the excision had been evaluated by the pathologist. Surgical procedure was complemented by systematic radiation therapy. The overall recurrence rate was 7.7%; the overall incidence of metastases 31%. In the group in which adequate excision had been obtained, no loco-regional recurrences were obtained, survival was significantly better, and the incidence of metastases was lower than in group in whom adequate excision could not be obtained. The importance of two criteria was stress: the depth and the character of the margins of the tumor which cannot be considered separately. The results suggest that there is a correlation between the general and loco-regional malignancy of soft tissue sarcomas.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Credentialing of nuclear medicine physicians, surgeons, and pathologists as a multidisciplinary team for selective sentinel lymphadenectomy.

There are several possible applications of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) concept with different technological aspects such as individualized surgical management of solid tumors, multidisciplinary treatments, and novel therapeutic approaches. To achieve these clinical applications, multidisciplinary teamwork with surgeons, nuclear medicine physicians, and pathologists would be critically required. Interdisciplinary issues should be resolved in order to develop optimal standard procedures of SLN dissection for various solid tumors.

Credentialing↗

PubMed2005

Effective communication of antimicrobial susceptibility data by pathologists to clinicians.

As antimicrobial-resistant gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial infections continue to emerge over time, influenced by selective pressure, and the costs of treating these infections increase, the ability of microbiology laboratories to accurately detect drug resistant bacteria and communicate susceptibility test results effectively to clinicians in a timely manner is more important than ever. Ongoing cooperation and coordination of activities among clinical pathologists, technical personnel, pharmacy, clinical services, and infection control using up-to-date laboratory methodologies and interpretive criteria to develop laboratory reports that are transmitted efficiently through computerized communication systems for use within each particular institution are essential to provide optimum patient care, control resistance, and conserve resources.

Clinical Laboratory Information Systems↗

PubMed1993

Lamina propria microinvasion of bladder tumors, incidence on stage allocation (pTa vs pT1): recommended approach. Pathologists of the French Association of Urology Cancer Committee.

A total of 100 bladder cancers posing a diagnostic problem as to invasion of the lamina propria were reevaluated by several pathologists. Agreement was reached in 90 cases after 4 assessments, but no agreement was obtained in the remaining 10 cases. In general, errors were due to overevaluation of microinvasion; only half of the "pT 1 tumors" remained classified as microinvasive pT 1 tumors. We propose that in the assessment presented to the clinician, there should be a clear distinction between pTa tumors with a doubt as to microinvasion, microinvasive pT 1 tumors, and highly invasive pT 1 tumors.

Carcinoma, Transitional Cell↗

PubMed1984

The value of immunohistochemistry in increasing diagnostic precision of undifferentiated tumours by the surgical pathologist.

The availability of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies allows immunohistochemical staining (immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase) procedures to be used by the surgical pathologist, so as to obtain a definite diagnosis in cases where light microscopic examination of tissue sections from biopsy and surgical specimens in inconclusive. Four cases of undifferentiated tumours are described in which only a differential diagnosis could be obtained using light microscopy but a definite diagnosis was achieved when additional information was provided by immunohistochemistry. A scheme is presented for the use of immunohistochemistry to increase diagnostic precision in assessing tumours.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

[Primary and secondary chest wall tumors from the pathologist's viewpoint].

Fibrous dysplasia (20%), metastases (16%) and chondrosarcoma (11%) are the most common bone tumors of the chest wall. Except lipoma, primary lesions of the soft tissue of the chest occur rarely as well. The Askin- and Abrikosoff tumor, elastofibroma dorsi and desmoid can be seen as typical exceptions. With respect to the histogenetic classification of undifferentiated sarcomas and thoracic metastases (f.e. prostatic carcinomas or mesotheliomas) an intimate cooperation of surgeons and pathologists as well as modern immunohistochemical investigations are required.

Bone Neoplasms↗

PubMed2000

The role of the pathologist as tissue refiner and data miner: the impact of functional genomics on the modern pathology laboratory and the critical roles of pathology informatics and bioinformatics.

This article provides an overview of how functional genomics is likely to impact on the pathology laboratory and highlights how informatics and tissue banking will greatly facilitate the molecular age of medicine. Important aspects of functional genomics in the post-genome era, including the roles of laser capture microdissection, DNA- and complementary DNA-based microarrays, proteomic methods, collaborative human tissue banking, tissue microarrays, and pathobioinformatics in the modern pathology laboratory are discussed. The role of mass spectroscopy in the analysis of RNA, DNA, and protein and its impact on the clinical laboratory, particularly in cost-effectiveness and time savings, are evaluated. This article explores how laboratory information systems (LISs) and the devices that feed them information may need to be modified to adapt to greater volumes of data for the new testing modalities that require understanding sophisticated fluorescence detection methods and image processing. Emerging genomic testing methods and their impact on pathology laboratory testing, especially in the area of molecular classification of neoplasms, are examined. The role of the tissue bank in the modern pathology laboratory as an archive of control normal tissues, as well as subsamples of the spectrum of progressive neoplastic states, is discussed in light of its critical importance to the molecular classification of cancer. Establishing a database that combines structured reports in pathology LISs and construction of tissue banking information systems will provide a rich resource for pathology departments. The article discusses a hypothetical resource, such as the Shared Tumor Expression Profiler, that would provide access to well-characterized tissue-based research resources for clinicians and researchers. Last, the article emphasizes how LISs can prepare for these changes, and how training pathologists in pathology informatics and bioinformatics (pathobioinformatics) is critical to ensure pathology's overall leadership role in the post-genome era.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗

PubMed1998

Thickener viscosity in dysphagia management: variability among speech-language pathologists.

Twenty-three speech-language pathologists (SLPs) experienced with thickening liquids for dysphagia evaluations were asked to mix solutions comparable to their perceptions of nectar, honey, and pudding consistencies. The purpose of the study was to determine if these professionals were able to reliably repeat their relative perceptions of nectar, honey, and pudding over multiple mixings. Each mixed solution was analyzed using a viscometer to determine its actual viscosity. A replication reliability analysis indicated that the professionals were not consistent in their attempts to thicken liquids. Intrasubject results were somewhat better or more consistent than intersubject results. Results of this study indicate the need for a standard protocol during dysphagia management to ensure consistent viscosities across evaluation and treatment.

Deglutition Disorders↗