Interobserver and intraobserver variability using the Fuhrman grading system for renal cell carcinoma.

Context: Histologic grading of renal cell carcinoma has been shown to be second to staging in prognostic significance. A 4-tier grading scheme proposed by Fuhrman et al and based on nuclear features is the system used most frequently in North America. There are, however, very few studies in the literature assessing the interobserver variability for this system, and to our knowledge, none addressing intraobserver variability.

Telepathology for routine light microscopic and frozen section diagnosis.

Telepathology (TP) uses telecommunication linkages to electronically capture, store, retrieve, and transmit images to distant sites. We assessed the feasibility of a dynamic real-time TP system for light microscopic (LM) diagnosis of anatomic pathology specimens, including frozen sections. Six pathologists, in 2 separate periods, read a set of 160 retrospectively retrieved slides (80 of which were frozen sections) by TP and LM.