Lack of uniformity in reporting autoimmune gastritis among a diverse group of pathologists

Practice patterns for reporting digestive system neuroendocrine neoplasms: results from a large, comprehensive international survey

AIMS

Criteria for the interpretation of digestive system neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) continue to evolve. Although there are some literature recommendations regarding workup and diagnosis of these lesions, different practice patterns exist among pathologists when signing out these specimens. The aim of this study was to assess practice trends among pathologists worldwide when reporting these neoplasms.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We created an online survey with multiple questions pertaining to digestive NENs. The results were analysed based on type of practice setting, years of sign-out experience, and practice location. Respondents included 384 practicing pathologists: 70% academic, 30% private practice; 63% gastrointestinal (GI) pathology-subspecialised, 37% not; 39% North American, 42% European, 19% others; 45% with ≤10 years in practice; 55% with >10 years. Some question responses were chosen by the majority (e.g. 85% use both mitotic count and Ki67 index for grading NENs, 82% complete a synoptic, and Ki67 stain even for small incidental appendiceal neuroendocrine tumours [NETs], and 96% utilize the diagnosis of grade 3 NET). However, some questions showed varying responses, including counting mitotic figures, Ki67 stain interpretation, and pancreatic grade 3 NEN workup. Pathologists also had some variability in interpreting regional metastatic foci of small bowel NETs and in choosing blocks for Ki67 staining in multifocal lesions.

CONCLUSION

There existed scenarios wherein practice patterns varied despite recommendations in the literature, and there were also scenarios lacking clear guidelines wherein pathologists used varying judgement. This survey highlights current key grey areas in digestive system NEN evaluation, leading to variation in practice patterns.

Measuring Terminology Consistency in Translated Corpora: Implementation of the Herfindahl-Hirshman Index

Consistent terminology can positively influence communication, information transfer, and proper understanding. In multilingual written communication processes, challenges are augmented due to translation variants. The main aim of this study was to implement the Herfindahl-Hirshman Index (HHI) for the assessment of translated terminology in parallel corpora for the evaluation of translated terminology. This research was conducted on three types of legal domain subcorpora, dating from different periods: the Croatian-English parallel corpus (1991–2009), Latin-English and Latin-Croatian versions of the Code of Canon Law (1983), and English and Croatian versions of the EU legislation (2013). After the terminology extraction process, validation of term candidates was performed, followed by an evaluation. Terminology consistency was measured using the HHI—a commonly accepted measurement of market concentration. Results show that the HHI can be used for measuring terminology consistency to improve information transfer and message understanding. In translation settings, the process shows the need for quality management solutions.