Implementation of pre-captured videos for remote diagnosis of cervical cytology specimens
Abstract
Objective
The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of implementing short videos captured by static telecytological applications for remote evaluation of cervical smears prepared by means of liquid-based cytology.
Methods
The study was performed on representative short videos captured from a total of 404 cervical smears (benign, 135; atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, 92; low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, 62; high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, 87; squamous cell carcinoma, 26; adenocarcinoma, 2) that were sent via file transfer protocol to password-protected accounts for remote review by three independent cytopathologists. In addition to diagnosis, reviewers commented on the overall digital video quality. Contributors’ and reviewers’ diagnoses were collected, recorded, and statistically evaluated.
Results
Statistical evaluation detected no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between cytological diagnoses based on short videos versus conventional slides. The overall interobserver agreement ranged from substantial to almost perfect with κ values of 0.74-0.91.
Conclusions
Short videos produced by static telecytology applications can be used as an alternative method for telecytological diagnosis of cervical smears, particularly for quality control purposes. It is a prompt and valid method for quality assessment and proficiency testing and can be integrated into the daily workflow. Short pre-captured videos of cervical smears can be used for rapid and accurate diagnosis, diminishing turnaround times and improving small cytology departments’ quality indices. They can also be used for archiving, teleconsultation, and second opinion purposes, improving the performance of already existing static telecytology stations.
Abstract
The present study aims to evaluate the diagnostic reproducibility of telecytology in pap smears prepared by means of liquid-based cytology among three cytopathologists using representative short duration videos captured by a static telecytology station. The study also examined the agreement between the contributors’ and the reviewers’ diagnoses. In addition, we have examined the possible impact of video quality on the reliability of telecytological diagnoses.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No competing financial interests exist.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Research data are not shared.
