Measuring the value of review of pathology material by a second pathologist.
In many departments, some cases are reviewed routinely by a second pathologist within the same department before sign out. The value of this practice is not known. We reviewed and compared the disagreement and amendment rates for cases reviewed by 1 or more pathologists based on the results of blinded review. A total of 8,363 cases underwent blinded review, and of these, 1,087 (13.0%) were reviewed by more than 1 pathologist before sign out. The disagreement rate for cases reviewed by more than 1 pathologist (4.8%) was significantly lower than for cases reviewed by only 1 pathologist (6.9%; P = .004). The amendment rate decreased to 0.0% from 0.5%, but this decrease was not statistically significant (P = .12). Review of material by a second pathologist before sign out is associated with a lower disagreement rate. These results suggest second review of surgical pathology is of value, but the best selection of cases to be reviewed remains to be defined.
Renshaw
Andrew A
AA
Department of Pathology, Baptist Hospital of Miami, 8900 N. Kendall Drive, Miami, FL 33176, USA.
Gould
Edwin W
EW
D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D010340:Pathology, Surgical / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011786:Quality Control; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016037:Single-Blind Method