Do Liquid-Based Preparations of Pulmonary Bronchial Brushing Specimens Perform Differently From Classically Prepared Cases for the Diagnosis of XXXX ? Observations From the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Nongynecologic Cytology.

@entity1 @entity4153 @entity5 @entity957 @entity189 @entity358
UNASSIGNED: Context .- Pulmonary bronchial brushing specimens can be processed by liquid-based or conventional methods. The ability to accurately diagnose a @entity358 with a liquid-based preparation (LBP) versus a conventional preparation may differ. Objective .- To compare the performance of LBPs of malignant pulmonary bronchial brushing specimens with the performance of conventional preparations. Design .- @entity1 responses from 553 malignant pulmonary bronchial brushing samples were evaluated for concordance with the general diagnosis. The performance of LBPs was compared with that of classic preparations. A nonlinear mixed model was used to analyze the performance by reference diagnosis, preparation type, program years, @entity1 type, and the interaction terms between these 4 factors. Results .- Concordance with the general category of @entity5 was observed in 95.2% of conventional Papanicolaou-stained, 90.9% of modified Giemsa-stained, and 96.9% of LBP (P < .001) samples. The results were significantly different between individual reference diagnoses (P < .001). The performance of LBPs was consistently higher for most diagnoses and was significantly better for @entity957 (P = .005), @entity4153 (P < .001), and @entity189 not otherwise specified (P < .001). All @entity1 types performed significantly better with @entity4153 . Pathologists and cytotechnologists performed significantly better with LBPs of @entity957 . A significantly higher concordance was observed between the general diagnosis and program years 2007-2011 versus 2001-2006 (P = .006). Conclusions .- Liquid-based preparations performed better than conventional methods, with significantly higher performance in squamous cell, small cell, and metastatic @entity189 . Improved performance over time may reflect more frequent use of LBP methods and increased familiarity with interpreting the morphologic findings.
