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6th ESACP Congress, Heidelberg, April 7-11, 1999 |
A111
Background: The ESACP has agreed recommendations for correctly
applying DNA-cytometry. Within research project EUROPATH a special
program was developed allowing an automatical control of individual
measurements according to these recommendations. This 'expert' is
installed at the server EUROQUANT. It is always available via Internet. The
aim of the study was to test the functionality of this
'expert-system' (ES), and to analyse its validity for the identification
of methodical problems and the interpretation of DNA histograms.
Method: Two key data of each nucleus measured by the
CIRES system were presented to the ES: the integrated
optical density (IOD) and the area (A). From these data the ES
creates in a few seconds information allowing (1) a critical analysis of
the homogeneity of the specimen measured, (2) an analysis of the settings
of the optical components, (3) an objective description of
the stem lines. The ES was tested on archival specimens from 44 patients with
invasive cervical carcinoma. Those patients were also studied by
comparative genomic hybridisation method (CGH).
Results: The reference cell populations fulfilled the ESACP
criteria. In 34 of the 44 cases 2 peaks were identifiable, in 8 cases
3 peaks, and in 2 cases 4 peaks. In 2 cases the glare correction in
the collective of nuclei belonging to the first peak was outside of the
ESACP limits; in 13 cases it was the case for the collective of the
second peak. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the first peak
was > 9% in 14 cases, the CV of the second peak and third peak
in 3 cases each.
Conclusions: (1) The ES can simply be used by
routine in the cytological diagnostic. For it some organisational
key elements must be defined. (2) Each measurement can automatically
be tested by standardized and scientifically based methods. (3) The
ES gives important information for an adequate interpretation of the
histograms.
AN INTERNATIONALLY AVAILABLE EXPERT-SYSTEM ALLOWS A PERMANENT AND STANDARIZED
CONTROL OF THE DNA-CYTOMETRY
Oberholzer M, Hubler M, Dellas A, Schultheiss E, Egloff V, Haroske G,
Kunze D, Meyer W
Department of Pathology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland