A Prospective Clinical Trial of Telecytopathology for Rapid Interpretation of Specimens Obtained During Endobronchial Ultrasound-Fine Needle Aspiration.

Background: Cytopathologic interpretation of endobronchial ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (EBUS-FNA) samples by a pathologist can be time-consuming and costly, and an onsite cytopathologist may not always be readily available. A telecytopathology system was instituted and evaluated to examine the effect on operative time for EBUS.

Methods: A prospective study was performed of sequential patients undergoing EBUS-FNA for the evaluation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy.

Telecytology for EBUS-FNA immediate adequacy assessment: implementation experience at a large academic medical center.

Introduction: Performing immediate assessment (IA) has become the standard of care for endobronchial ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EBUS-FNA) specimens. Despite the benefits of aiding interventional pulmonologists to achieve higher adequacy rates and fewer unnecessary passes, the time required by attending cytopathologists to be present for on-site assessments is significant and affects other clinical responsibilities. Telepathology, as implemented here, consists of a cytotechnologist-driven or trainee-driven microscope attached to a Nikon DS-Fi1 Camera and DS-L2 controller that displays dynamic microscopic images in real time on the attending pathologist's office computer.