Human pathology
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Whole slide images (WSIs), also known as virtual slides, can support electronic distribution of immunohistochemistry (IHC) stains to pathologists that rely on remote sites for these services. This may lead to improvement in turnaround times, reduction of courier costs, fewer errors in slide distribution, and automated image analyses. Although this approach is practiced de facto today in some large laboratories, there are no clinical validation studies on this approach. ⋯ Except for one instance, WSI technology was not felt to be the cause of disagreements. These results are encouraging and compare favorably with other efforts to quantify diagnostic variability in surgical pathology. With thorough training, careful validation of specific applications, and regular postsignout review of glass IHC slides (eg, quality assurance review), WSI technology can be used for IHC stain interpretation.