Dolk H, Seller M J
Department of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
J Med Genet. 1993 Nov;30(11):942-6. doi: 10.1136/jmg.30.11.942.
Recent epidemiological interest has focused on separation of neural tube defects (NTD) into subgroups which may differ pathogenetically and aetiologically, for example, 'upper' and 'lower' spina bifida. In order to validate the use of pathologists' lesion descriptions by epidemiologists and others, a postal survey of 18 European perinatal pathologists, identified by EUROCAT registries, was conducted. Pathologists were asked, anonymously, to describe and identify the lesions in 15 photographs of midtrimester termination fetuses. There was a 50% response rate. Even taking into consideration the limitations of dealing with photographs rather than the fetuses themselves, there was often marked variation in the descriptions. Standardisation of terminology and international consensus about the type of detail recorded for NTD are urgently needed.
近期的流行病学研究兴趣集中在将神经管缺陷（NTD）细分为可能在发病机制和病因上存在差异的亚组，例如“上”型和“下”型脊柱裂。为了验证病理学家对病变的描述能否被流行病学家及其他人员采用，我们对18位由EUROCAT登记处确定的欧洲围产期病理学家进行了一次邮寄调查。我们要求病理学家匿名描述并识别15张孕中期引产胎儿照片中的病变。回复率为50%。即便考虑到处理照片而非胎儿本身所存在的局限性，描述中仍常常存在显著差异。迫切需要对术语进行标准化，并就神经管缺陷记录的细节类型达成国际共识。
