Cytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology
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Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of solid pancreatic lesions (SPLs). Cytological samples can also be obtained using touch imprint cytology (TIC) on EUS fine-needle biopsy (FNB) specimens. We aimed to compare sample quality and diagnostic yield of EUS-FNA-standard cytology (EUS-FNA-SC) to that of EUS-FNB-TIC in a series of patients with SPLs. ⋯ EUS-FNB-TIC provides comparable samples to those of EUS-FNA-SC and combines the benefits of cytology and histology for the evaluation of SPLs by employing a single needle during the same endoscopic procedure.
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Comparative Study
Digital vs traditional: Are diagnostic accuracy rates similar for glass slides vs whole slide images in a non-gynaecological external quality assurance setting?
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs introduced virtual microscopy cases into its cytopathology non-gynaecological programme after a short pilot phase, to address the challenges of providing a purely glass slide-based external quality assurance programme to multiple participants both locally and internationally. The use of whole slide image (WSI) cases has facilitated a more robust programme in relation to standardised material and statistical analysis, with access to a wider variety of specimen types and diagnostic entities. ⋯ Diagnostic accuracy, using WSI for cases in our external quality assurance programme is acceptable. As the use of digital microscopy in a large scale external quality assurance programme offers extensive advantages over a glass slide-based format, our results encourage future comparison of diagnostic accuracy for virtual compared to glass slide format at a point in time where pathologists are becoming increasingly familiar with virtual microscopy in everyday practice.
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To evaluate the feasibility of malignant pleural effusions (MPE) as surrogate samples for the detection of echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like4 (EML4)-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and to investigate the prognostic and predictive value of EML4-ALK in MPE of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). ⋯ EML4-ALK rearrangement detection in malignant pleural effusions is a complementary method for EML4-ALK detection. VETANA and qRT-PCR are more appropriate for MPE detection. EML4-ALK rearrangement in pleural effusions has a predictive value for treatment.