Web-based virtual microscopy in teaching and standardizing Gleason grading.
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2005-05-13
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Gleason grading forms the basis of prognostic and therapeutic assessment in prostatic carcinoma despite its subjective nature and substantial interobserver variation The accuracy of Gleason grading can be improved by the use of educational tools such as reference images However conventional microscopy images are of limited educational value because it is neither possible to view the sample at different magnifications nor to navigate into different areas of the specimen This limitation can be overcome by the use of virtual microscopy which allows viewing entire digitized microscope slides We created an interactive Web site www webmicroscope net gleason featuring a comprehensive set of prostatic needle biopsies as virtual slides which can be viewed with a standard Web browser Internet Explorer or Netscape To evaluate the validity of Web based virtual microscopy for Gleason grading an experienced uropathologist TK scored a series of 62 biopsies from the original glass slides and 6 weeks later from virtual slides on the Web site using an ordinary desktop computer The intraobserver agreement was excellent with identical Gleason scores found in 48 of the 62 cases kappa 0 73 The 14 remaining scores differed only by 1 point on the Gleason scale 2 10 The virtual slides were viewed by 2 other uropathologists PM and HH with interobserver kappa coefficients ranging from 0 55 to 0 62 which is within the range of previously reported studies using glass slides The 3 uropathologists Gleason scores were included as reference scores on the Web site which now serves as a publicly open platform for self testing and learning of Gleason grading We conclude that Web based virtual microscopy is a promising new tool for teaching and standardizing Gleason grading