Digital Pathology Allows for Global Second Opinions for Urologic Malignancies

Digital pathology, the use of digital images for histopathologic diagnosis, is transforming the practice of pathology. This review discusses the ability of digital pathology to assist with second opinions for challenging cases in genitourinary pathology worldwide.

While traditional pathology is limited by physical hardware such as microscopes and glass slides, digital pathology creates opportunities for the rapid sharing of diagnostic materials with colleagues and experts worldwide. This technology can greatly facilitate sharing challenging cases from low-resource areas where pathology services or subspecialty expertise are not available. As the incidence of kidney, prostate, and testicular cancer continues to increase in both high-income and developing countries, digital pathology may be the solution for expert opinions in diagnosing urologic disease worldwide.