Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jul-Aug;7(4):174-184.
doi: 10.1016/j.jasc.2018.02.005. Epub 2018 Feb 21.

Paris Interobserver Reproducibility Study (PIRST)

Daniel F I Kurtycz  1 , Güliz A Barkan  2 , Derek M Pavelec  3 , Dorothy L Rosenthal  4 , Eva M Wojcik  2 , Christopher J VandenBussche  4 , Kala Mangiulli  5 , Matthew T Olson  6
Affiliations

Paris Interobserver Reproducibility Study (PIRST)

Daniel F I Kurtycz et al. J Am Soc Cytopathol. 2018 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: In concert with the 2015 publication of The Paris System for Urinary Cytopathology (TPS), a Web-based interobserver study, co-sponsored by the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC) and International Academy of Cytology (IAC), was performed to determine diagnostic agreement among volunteer participants and with the TPS author consensus.

Material and methods: Participants at various levels of training and certification were recruited through national and international cytopathology professional societies. Although the survey was open to all comers, potential participants were screened by two basic cytopathology questions. Information was collected on the level of training, practice patterns, and experience. Study participants evaluated 85 images (previously unpublished) chosen from the TPS atlas. These images spanned all diagnostic categories.

Results: Of the 1993 attempts to access the survey, 1313 participants correctly answered the qualifying questions and were included in the survey. Respondents were concentrated in the United States, although many participants came from other countries. The majority of respondents were board-certified in anatomic pathology with cytopathology certification. A smaller number were cytotechnologists. Board-certified cytopathologists and specialist cytotechnologists outperformed other certifications. Practice type (academics versus non-academic), and country (US versus international) were not major factors in concordance. Diagnostic categories with the best agreement were Negative for High-Grade Urothelial Carcinoma (NHGUC; 71%), Low-Grade Urothelial Neoplasm (LGUN; 62%), and High-Grade Urothelial Carcinoma (HGUC; 57%). Indeterminate categories showed low concordance.

Conclusions: The NHGUC, LGUN, and HGUC were most correlated with diagnostic agreement among observers. This study can serve as a baseline for future comparisons.

Keywords: Bladder cancer; Interobserver reproducibility; Standardized Terminology System; The Paris System; Urine cytology; Web Based Image Study.

PubMed Disclaimer

LinkOut - more resources