Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine
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Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. · Dec 2009
Whole-slide imaging digital pathology as a platform for teleconsultation: a pilot study using paired subspecialist correlations.
-Whole-slide imaging technology offers promise for rapid, Internet-based telepathology consultations between institutions. Before implementation, technical issues, pathologist adaptability, and morphologic pitfalls must be well characterized. ⋯ -Overall concordance between digital whole-slide and standard glass-slide interpretations was good at 91%. Adjustments in technology, case selection, and technology familiarization should improve performance, making digital whole-slide review feasible for broader telepathology subspecialty consultation applications.
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Arch. Pathol. Lab. Med. · Dec 2009
Case ReportsGastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis: an unusual fungal infection mimicking colon cancer.
-Basidiobolomycosis is a rare disease caused by the fungus Basidiobolus ranarum, an environmental saprophyte found worldwide. Patients with B ranarum infection may present with subcutaneous, gastrointestinal, or systemic lesions. Gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis poses diagnostic difficulties, as its clinical presentation is nonspecific, with no identifiable risk factors. ⋯ -Gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis can be detected on small endoscopic biopsy. The unequivocal diagnosis requires microbiologic cultivation of the fungus obtained from tissues. The prognosis for this disease is usually favorable as seen in 3 of our cases; however, cases with fatal outcome are on record.