Guideline tackles bone marrow specimen reporting
The CAP‘s Pathology and Laboratory Quality Center has released an evidence-based guideline that aims to tackle the complexities of reporting findings from bone marrow specimens.
Published in an early online release of the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, “Bone Marrow Synoptic Reporting for Hematologic Neoplasms” provides evidence-based recommendations that help pathologists and laboratories consistently, accurately, and comprehensively report bone marrow findings directly relevant for patient outcomes (Sever C, et al. Published online Feb. 23, 2016).
“Diseases emerging from bone marrow analyses, such as blood cancers, can be difficult to distinguish from a wide variety of noncancer causes, and often additional testing and data integration is required beyond morphologic evaluation of the bone marrow,” Cordelia E. Sever, MD, a hematopathologist at Presbyterian Hospital, Albuquerque, N.M., said in a statement. She led the panel, composed of seven pathologists and hematopathologists, that developed the guideline.
“This guideline provides recommendations for the specific clinical and laboratory data sets to include various specimen types, testing modalities, and clinical parameters,” Dr. Sever said. “Combining the essential data elements will help pathologists and laboratories produce clear, complete, and consistent synoptic reports that address the most relevant diagnostic and prognostic information.”
The CAP panel systematically reviewed more than 1,500 published articles of relevant comparative studies and examined evidence from more than 300 articles to develop draft recommendations, which were revised and finalized based on clinician feedback garnered during an open comment period.