Publications by authors named "Brian Smola"

Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) testing has been utilized for further risk stratification of thyroid nodules categorized as atypia of undetermined significance (AUS). The 2023 Bethesda system subcategorizes AUS diagnosis into AUS with nuclear atypia (AUS-N) and other atypia (AUS-O). The current study aims to determine if performance of GSC testing differs between the two AUS subcategories and between single AUS cohort and repeat AUS cohort.

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Introduction/objective: Biliary brushing cytology (BB) to detect cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is integral in the surveillance of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Since reactive changes can mimic carcinoma, indeterminant results are frequent. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using the UroVysion probe set has been advocated to enhance the detection of CCA.

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Introduction: Telecytology (TC) has the advantage of allowing cytopathologists to remotely support multiple sites rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) concurrently and represents a potential solution for an increased clinical demand for ROSE. In this study, we share our comparative experience of using TC versus conventional (in-person) ROSE for endobronchial ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EBUS-FNA).

Materials And Methods: We evaluated 475 consecutive cases of EBUS-FNA that underwent TC-ROSE from May 2020 to August 2021 along with 475 consecutive cases which had conventional ROSE from November 2019 to August 2021 at the University of Michigan.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study evaluated the Genius™ Digital Diagnostics System for Pap test screening, comparing its performance against traditional manual light microscopy for 319 cases.
  • - Results showed that the AI system had a significantly higher concordance with the original Pap test diagnoses across various categories and also reduced evaluation time compared to manual methods.
  • - Participants found using the AI-based digital system to be a positive experience, indicating potential benefits in diagnostic accuracy and efficiency in clinical practice.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The 2023 Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology introduced two subcategories for diagnosing atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) in pediatric thyroid nodules: AUS nuclear atypia (AUS-N) and AUS other (AUS-O), examining their histological outcomes and cancer rates.
  • - A study analyzed 62 thyroid nodules from pediatric patients, revealing 29 classified as AUS-N and 33 as AUS-O, with both categories showing a predominance in females and similar sizes.
  • - Results indicated that AUS-N nodules had a significantly higher malignant rate (52% of cases) compared to AUS-O nodules (15%), suggesting that these findings can improve clinical decisions for managing pediatric AUS cases
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Introduction: Biliary brushing (BB) cytology has a sensitivity of 15%-65% and specificity approaching 100% for detecting malignancy. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) using the UroVysion probe set has been advocated to enhance the detection of malignancies with reported sensitivity of 43%-84%. We sought to evaluate the performance of FISH in BB with equivocal cytology at our institution.

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Background: There is limited data comparing the performance of Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier (GSC) in thyroid nodules carrying an initial versus a repeat diagnosis of atypia of undetermined significance (AUS). This study reported an institutional experience in this regard.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included consecutive thyroid nodules that had an initial or a repeat AUS diagnosis and had a subsequent GSC diagnostic result (benign or suspicious) from 2017 to 2021.

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Background: Traditional immunohistochemistry (IHC) for breast carcinomas has shown low detection rates of metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) in effusions. Although GATA3 has enhanced diagnostic accuracy in this realm, its limited utility in detecting triple-negative breast carcinoma (TNBC) has been highlighted. TRPS1 has been introduced as a potentially sensitive and specific marker in detecting MBC on histologic samples.

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Background: Data on Afirma's genomic sequencing classifier (GSC) performance in atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) subcategories is limited. This study investigated GSC performance in AUS nodules with architectural atypia (AUS-A), cytological atypia (AUS-C), architectural and cytological atypia (AUS-AC), and predominantly Hürthle cells (AUS-HC).

Methods: This study retrieved consecutive thyroid nodules having a recurrent cytologic diagnosis of AUS with qualifiers and a concurrent GSC diagnostic result.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluates the effectiveness of quantitative image analysis (QIA) compared to manual scoring by pathologists for important breast cancer biomarkers: estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), and HER2.
  • A retrospective analysis of 1,367 invasive breast cancer cases revealed high concordance rates between QIA and manual scores (93% for ER, 96% for PgR, 90% for HER2), though some discrepancies were noted due to low scores or representation issues.
  • The findings suggest that QIA is a reliable computer-aided tool that enhances standardization in biomarker scoring, but emphasizes the importance of pathologist oversight in selecting representative areas for analysis.
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Background: Thyroid fine needle aspiration (T-FNA) is a mainstay in management of thyroid nodules. However, the preparation of T-FNA specimens varies across institutions. Prior studies have compared diagnostic rates between different specimen preparations of T-FNA specimens and their associated advantages and disadvantages.

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Background: Afirma gene expression classifier (GEC) is an adjunct to thyroid fine needle aspiration shown to improve pre-operative risk assessment and reduce unnecessary surgery of indeterminate thyroid nodules. Genomic sequencing classifier (GSC) is a newer version aiming to improve specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) of Afirma testing. There are limited studies comparing GSC vs GEC.

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Introduction: The rate of malignancy (ROM) in thyroid fine needle aspirations (FNA) classified under "atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS), including Hürthle cell type (HLUS)" category of The Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology (TBSRTC) in literature is highly variable. The 2018 TBSRTC was updated to note a preferred categorization of AUS cases into subcategories. This study evaluates the impact of AUS subclassification on rates of neoplasia (RON), rates of malignancy (ROM), and cytopathologist (CP) concordance.

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Background: Gender disparities exist in cancer care. Malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) carry a poor prognosis and are managed by different physicians. This study sought to evaluate referral patterns and gender differences for definitive treatment and outcomes of MPE patients.

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Objective: The Hybrid Capture II high-risk HPV test (HC II hrHPVT) improves early detection of cervical neoplasia in Pap tests. However, weakly positive HC II results may be reported as indeterminate or "equivocal," for which there is little clinical guidance. This study is designed to evaluate the clinical outcome of equivocal HC II hrHPVTs and concurrent atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) on ThinPrep Pap specimens through correlation with 2-year follow-up cervical biopsies.

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Introduction: The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (TBSRTC) refines the definition of and provides specific diagnostic criteria for the category of atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS). This study was conducted to review our institutional experience with thyroid nodules interpreted as FLUS using TBSRTC diagnostic criteria.

Materials And Methods: A SNOMED (Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine) search of the electronic pathology database in our institution for the period of January 2011 to June 2012 was conducted to identify thyroid aspirates previously interpreted as FLUS using TBSRTC diagnostic criteria.

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Treatment of specimens that contain excessive blood can effectively reduce the unsatisfactory rate; however, a considerable number of unsatisfactory specimens remain. We evaluated the effectiveness of reprocessing unsatisfactory specimens that had too few squamous cells and contained microscopic red blood cells (TFSQRBC).Out of the 688 unsatisfactory specimens at microscopic screening, 197 (28.

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