Paris Interobserver Reproducibility Study (PIRST)

In concert with the 2015 publication of The Paris System for Urinary Cytopathology (TPS), a Web-based interobserver study, co-sponsored by the American Society of Cytopathology (ASC) and International Academy of Cytology (IAC), was performed to determine diagnostic agreement among volunteer participants and with the TPS author consensus.

Participants at various levels of training and certification were recruited through national and international cytopathology professional societies. Although the survey was open to all comers, potential participants were screened by two basic cytopathology questions. Information was collected on the level of training, practice patterns, and experience. Study participants evaluated 85 images (previously unpublished) chosen from the TPS atlas. These images spanned all diagnostic categories.

Of the 1993 attempts to access the survey, 1313 participants correctly answered the qualifying questions and were included in the survey. Respondents were concentrated in the United States, although many participants came from other countries. The majority of respondents were board-certified in anatomic pathology with cytopathology certification. A smaller number were cytotechnologists. Board-certified cytopathologists and specialist cytotechnologists outperformed other certifications. Practice type (academics versus non-academic), and country (US versus international) were not major factors in concordance. Diagnostic categories with the best agreement were Negative for High-Grade Urothelial Carcinoma (NHGUC; 71%), Low-Grade Urothelial Neoplasm (LGUN; 62%), and High-Grade Urothelial Carcinoma (HGUC; 57%). Indeterminate categories showed low concordance.

The NHGUC, LGUN, and HGUC were most correlated with diagnostic agreement among observers. This study can serve as a baseline for future comparisons.