Introduction: Telecytology is the practice of cytology at a distance. The images captured by a camera are sent to the cytopathologist at a different location who views the images and reaches a diagnosis. Recently, smartphone-assisted telepathology has been evaluated for different subspecialities of pathology including cytology for second opinion. Materials and Methods: For the purpose of the study, a total of 151 cases of fine needle aspiration and 10 cases of urine cytology reported by a single pathologist were retrieved from the records. The images of all the cases were captured by a trained pathologist using the primary camera of a smartphone from the ocular of a binocular microscope. The images were sent by WhatsApp to the same pathologist who had made the conventional microscopy diagnosis. The images were viewed on the smartphone screen by the pathologist who replied with the diagnosis after analysing all the images with or without digital zoom. Results: A total of 154 cases out of 161 were correctly diagnosed on smartphone-assisted tele-pathology (overall intraobserver concordance of 95.6%). For head and neck swellings, the concordance was 65/70 (92.9%), for breast lesions, it was 23/24 (95.8%), and for miscellaneous swellings, it was 57/57 (100%). For urine cytology, the concordance rate was 9/10 (90%). Conclusion: Though the results of this study are encouraging, further improvement in the smartphone camera resolution and internet connectivity would enhance the utility of smartphone-assisted telecytopathology.
Introduction Traditional telepathology techniques like whole slide imaging require expensive equipment and are currently out of reach of the developing countries. However, the improvements in smartphone camera resolution and availability of faster internet have made smartphone‐assisted telepathology possible. Methods A total of 186 cases pertaining to gynecologic pathology reported by single consultant (NT) were retrieved from the records of the histopathology department. A trained histopathologist then photographed representative areas of each case by using the smartphone camera. After a wash off period of 6 months, the images along with the clinical details were sent by Whatsapp Messenger to the same reporting pathologist. The reporting pathologist replied with the diagnosis of each case by using Whatsapp. Results The smartphone diagnosis was concordant in 179/186 (96.2%) cases. The intraobserver concordance rates varied with the organ involved – it was highest for endometrial and myometrial pathology (123/126, 97.6%) lowest for ovarian lesions (08/10, 80%). For cervical pathology, it was 97.2% (35/36) and for fallopian tube pathology it was 92.9% (13/14). Conclusion Although the initial results of this pilot study are encouraging, there is a long way to go before smartphone‐assisted telepathology can be put to routine use for the second opinion. More experience of the pathologists with this technique and faster internet and better smartphone cameras will further improve the concordance of smartphone‐assisted telepathology diagnosis with conventional microscopy diagnosis.
Background: Indeterminate thyroid lesions have always been a grey zone in the field of thyroid cytopathology. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) has emerged as a promising tool to correctly classify these indeterminate thyroid lesions into benign and malignant. Hence we planned to assess a panel of immune markers in the diagnosis of indeterminate thyroid lesions consisting of Galectin-3, considered positive for malignancy and CD117 which is positive in benign follicular epithelial cells and negative in malignant lesions.Methods: All the thyroid aspirates reported as indeterminate lesions over a period of 3 years were evaluated. Galectin-3 and CD117 immunocytochemistry was done in 50 alcohol fixed Pap stained smears of AUS/FLUS, FN/SFN and SM category lesions.The expression of both immune markers was assessed by semi-quantitative method and ICC score was calculated.Result: Of 50 indeterminate lesions, 29 were positive for Galectin-3 and 21 were negative. CD117 was positive in 19 cases and rests 31 were negative. With the use of this ICC panel 29/30 indeterminate lesions in which histopathological correlation was available could be recategorized correctly into benign and malignant. The combined sensitivity and specificity of Galectin-3 and CD117 for categorising the indeterminate lesions into malignant category was 100%. Conclusion:The combined use of positive and negative immune markers for thyroid malignancy increases the sensitivity and specificity of ICC to categorise the indeterminate thyroid lesions into benign and malignant. In cases with discordant ICC results we propose that inclusion of one additional positive and/or negative marker may resolve the diagnostic dilemma.
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