Bonsembiante Federico, Bonfanti Ugo, Cian Francesco, Cavicchioli Laura, Zattoni Beatrice, Gelain Maria Elena
1 Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science (BCA), University of Padova, Legnaro (PD), Italy.
2 La Vallonèa Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Passirana di Rho (MI), Italy.
Vet Pathol. 2019 May;56(3):429-434. doi: 10.1177/0300985818825128. Epub 2019 Jan 27.
Digital slides created by whole-slide imaging scanners can be evaluated by pathologists located in remote sites, but the process must be validated before this technology can be applied to routine cytological diagnosis. The aim of this study was to validate a whole-slide imaging scanner for cytological samples. Sixty cytological samples, whose diagnoses were confirmed by gold-standard examinations (histology or flow cytometry), were digitalized using a whole-slide imaging scanner. Digital slides and glass slides were examined by 3 observers with different levels of cytopathological expertise. No significant differences were noted between digital and glass slides in regard to the number of cases correctly diagnosed, or the sensitivity, specificity, or diagnostic accuracy, irrespective of the observers' expertise. The agreements between the digital slides and the gold-standard examinations were moderate to substantial, while the agreements between the glass slides and the gold-standard examinations were substantial for all 3 observers. The intraobserver agreements between digital and glass slides were substantial to almost perfect. The interobserver agreements when evaluating digital slides were moderate between observers 1 and 2 and between observers 1 and 3 while they were substantial between observers 2 and 3. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the digital slides produced by the whole-slide imaging scanner are adequate to diagnose cytological samples and are similar among clinical pathologists with differing levels of expertise.
通过全切片成像扫描仪生成的数字切片可由位于远程地点的病理学家进行评估，但在该技术应用于常规细胞学诊断之前，必须对其进行验证。本研究的目的是验证一种用于细胞学样本的全切片成像扫描仪。使用全切片成像扫描仪对60份经金标准检查（组织学或流式细胞术）确诊的细胞学样本进行数字化处理。由3名具有不同细胞病理学专业水平的观察者对数字切片和玻璃切片进行检查。无论观察者的专业水平如何，在正确诊断的病例数、敏感性、特异性或诊断准确性方面，数字切片和玻璃切片之间均未发现显著差异。数字切片与金标准检查之间的一致性为中等至高度，而对于所有3名观察者而言，玻璃切片与金标准检查之间的一致性均为高度。数字切片和玻璃切片之间的观察者内一致性为高度至几乎完美。在评估数字切片时，观察者1和2之间以及观察者1和3之间的观察者间一致性为中等，而观察者2和3之间的观察者间一致性为高度。总之，我们的研究表明，全切片成像扫描仪生成的数字切片足以诊断细胞学样本，并且在不同专业水平的临床病理学家之间相似。
