Technology assessment in anatomic pathology. An illustration of test evaluation using fine-needle aspiration biopsy

Although anatomic pathology diagnoses are the standard on which treatments often are based, many facets of anatomic pathology have not been rigorously examined. These areas include the evaluation of a procedure's technical and diagnostic characteristics, clinical utility, and cost. Technology assessment is the disciplined scientific and systematic evaluation of a test or procedure, and it can be used to evaluate these areas in anatomic pathology. To illustrate and promote the use of technology assessment in anatomic pathology, we show examples in fine-needle aspiration biopsy, which is a subspecialty of cytopathology. We discuss some of the more commonly encountered problems and misconceptions of test evaluation and also the need for further fine-needle aspiration biopsy evaluation. We conclude that technology assessment is a powerful but underutilized tool for test evaluation in fine-needle aspiration biopsy and in anatomic pathology.