‘Insufficient’/‘Inadequate’/‘Non-Diagnostic’ Category of the WHO Reporting System for Lung Cytopathology, 2022: A Survey About Use in Practice

Abstract

Introduction

The new ‘WHO Reporting System for Lung Cytopathology’ (2022) includes an ‘Insufficient’/‘Inadequate’/‘Non-diagnostic’ category. Although they recommend that each laboratory should choose one term to report this diagnostic category, they do not recommend one term over the others. Our aim was to evaluate the use of these three terms in pulmonary FNACs among Spanish pathologists.

Methods

A web-based survey among Spanish pathologists using Google Forms was performed. It included 14 yes/no and multiple-choice questions, the latter with an open-text option where it was possible to give a different answer from the ones given. Some questions inquired about their daily practice routine whilst others proposed different cytological examples with the intention of knowing how they would report those particular cases.

Results

Twenty-eight participants (18 cytopathologists, two general pathologists and seven residents) from 17 different Spanish hospitals completed the survey. Most of the respondents use more than one term of this diagnostic category, and there is a lack of reproducibility on the criteria to use one specific term.

Conclusion

There is a need to clearly define this category to reduce variability between pathologists.