- Comment in:
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Cytopathology. 1997 Feb;8(1):68-9.
Inter- and intra-observer variation in the reporting of cervical smears: specialist cytopathologists versus histopathologists.
O'Sullivan JP,
Ismail SM,
Barnes WS,
Deery AR,
Gradwell E,
Harvey JA,
Husain OA,
Kocjan G,
McKee G,
Olafsdottir R,
Ratcliffe NA,
Newcombe RG.
Department of Histopathology, St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex, UK.
One hundred and ten cervical smears were circulated to five specialist consultant cytopathologists and five consultant histopathologists. Of these smears, 100 were randomized and re-circulated. The cytopathologists reported endocervical cells and wart virus infection more frequently than the histopathologists, although neither group showed good inter-observer agreement for either assessment. Apart from smear adequacy and the presence of endocervical cells, both groups showed good intra-observer agreement in all the parameters measured. This suggests that overall individuals were applying their own personal criteria with consistency over time, although a previous study had shown considerable lack of inter-observer agreement among the histopathologists on the grade of dyskaryosis and the management recommendation. The results indicate that specialist cytopathologists bring a different viewpoint to the reporting of cervical smears than histopathologists. They also show a lack of standardization in the reporting of smears despite the guidelines issued by the British Society for Clinical Cytology.
PMID: 9074657 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]