title: Design of a simplified histopathologic model for gastrointestinal inflammation in dogs.
abstract: Significant interobserver variability in the diagnostic interpretation of endoscopic gastrointestinal (GI) specimens exists even with the use of World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) standardization criteria. Chi-square analyses compared the extent of pathologists' agreement for microarchitectural features of inflammation in endoscopic specimens obtained from 253 animals of the original WSAVA study. Patterns of agreement between pathologists were classified as broad (3/4 pathologists agreed), dichotomous (2/4 pathologists agreed), or divergent (no agreement between pathologists). The simplified model for GI inflammation was based on those parameters for which the pathologists had either broad or minimally divergent opinions of histopathologic significance. In this model, the parameters chosen were as follows: gastric parameters (intraepithelial lymphocytes [IELs], lamina propria [LP] infiltrates, and mucosal fibrosis), duodenal parameters (villus atrophy, epithelial injury, IELs, crypt changes, and LP infiltrates), and colonic parameters (epithelial injury, crypt dilation, fibrosis, LP infiltrates, and goblet cell depletion). Preliminary data using this simplified model showed excellent correlation between pathologists in defining the presence and extent of GI inflammation in dogs.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA ajergens@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Jergens
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ackermann
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hostetter
authors.affiliation: Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Willard
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mansell
authors.affiliation: Institut fur Neuropathologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bilzer
authors.affiliation: Histovet Surgical Pathology, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wilcock
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Washabau
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Langford, UK.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: HistoVet Inc., Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Langford, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Day
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015588:Observer Variation; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: cat; digestive tract; disease process; dog; domestic mammals; gastrointestinal; imaging; immunologic/inflammation; morphometry; species; technology; tissue