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Reliability of telepathology for frozen section service
U Wellnitz1, B Binder, P Fritz
1Robert Bosch Hospital, Department of Pathology, Stuttgart, Germany.
Summary
Telepathology enables remote frozen section diagnosis, crucial for hospitals lacking on-site pathologists. While slightly less accurate than conventional methods, its benefits justify its use.
Area of Science:
- Digital Pathology
- Surgical Pathology
Background:
- Telepathology facilitates remote diagnosis via electronic image transmission.
- Frozen section diagnosis is a critical intraoperative tool.
- Hospitals without on-site pathologists face diagnostic challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the diagnostic accuracy of telepathological frozen section diagnosis.
- To compare telepathology's accuracy with conventional frozen section diagnosis.
- To assess the feasibility of telepathology for intraoperative diagnosis.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of telepathological frozen section diagnosis studies.
- Meta-analysis of over 1290 cases.
- Comparison of diagnostic accuracy metrics between telepathology and conventional methods.
Main Results:
- Telepathology showed a diagnostic accuracy of approximately 0.91.
- Conventional frozen section diagnosis achieved an average accuracy of approximately 0.98.
- Telepathology had a higher rate of deferred and false-negative diagnoses, but specificity was comparable (>0.99).
Conclusions:
- Telepathological frozen section diagnosis is justifiable for hospitals lacking pathologists.
- Current technology supports its introduction, offering time and cost savings.
- It provides a viable alternative to intraoperative diagnosis without pathologist access.