Clinicopathological Diagnostic Discrepancies: An Analysis of 1703 Surgical Pathology Specimens

Abstract

Background: Evaluation of error occurrence is a vital component of laboratory‑quality assurance. One method of the measuring errors is by an assessment of discrepancies in clinical and pathology diagnosis. This study was carried out to determine the occurrence of such differences in our institution and to find out if any association exists between clinical diagnostic reasoning and the nature of the lesion. Materials and Methods: A 3‑year retrospective analysis of surgical pathology specimen records was performed for report contents, clinical diagnosis, clinical suspicion, or diagnostic questions. Discrepancy index (Di) was calculated as the number of incompatible cases/total number of cases ×100. Results: An analysis of 1703 cases showed complete agreement between the clinical and pathology diagnosis in majority of the cases (1514, 89.9%) while discordance occurred in 189 (11.1%). There was more discrepancy in benign cases (12.3%, n = 1144) than malignant conditions (8.6%, n = 559). Using Chi‑square test of independence, there was association between the nature of the lesion (benign or malignant) and diagnostic concordance ( χ² = 5.24, p = 0.02207) at 0.01 level of significance. There was more discordance in diagnosis of soft tissue lesions (Di = 23.8, n = 1587). Conclusion: This study suggests that greater discrepancies are likely to occur in the diagnoses of benign conditions than malignant diseases.