Reproducibility of nuclear morphometry parameters from cytologic smears of canine cutaneous mast cell tumors--intra- and interobserver variability.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Qualitative and/or semiquantitative histopathologic grading has been the method of choice to predict the biologic behavior of mast cell tumors (MCT). Recently, computer-assisted nuclear morphometric analysis of histologic or cytologic specimens has been shown to correlate with histopathologic grading of MCT. However, it is still not clear what the reproducibility and variability of these computer-assisted measurements are. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to estimate the intra- and interobserver variability in computer-assisted morphometric analysis of nuclear parameters in fine-needle cytologic smears of canine cutaneous MCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Measurements were performed by 2 observers with basic training on the recognition of neoplastic cells and operating the image analysis software. The analyses were performed twice at 6 months apart. RESULTS: No significant effects were detected for observer, time, and the interaction observer-time. CONCLUSIONS: Nuclear morphometric analysis of mast cell tumors using cytologic smears is a reproducible method for grading of MCT.