The Use of Leica LV1 Scanner As a Pathology Diagnostic Tool

      Pathology is currently facing a growing demand to improve quality, patient safety and diagnostic accuracy because there is an increasing emphasis on sub-specialization. However, around the world, and in the United States there are still unspecialized centers, resulting in inaccurate diagnosis and consequently poor outcomes. As a consequence, systems that can optimize access to expert opinion and highly specialized pathology services are being developed. “Telepathology” that is defined as the practice of medical diagnosis facilitated by digital transmission of pathological data was approved by the FDA in 2017. The most important advantages of this practice are: 1. Pathologist can provide a primary diagnosis to a site with no pathologist, 2. Pathologist can request a second opinion from a distant colleague for a complex or ambiguous case, and 3. Applications include quality assurance, education, and research. There is still controversy on the diagnostic accuracy within the different subspecialties. The purpose of this project was to calculate the diagnostic accuracy using Telepathology while analyzing hematopoietic tissue. 
       There were 30 pathology slides analyzed by a senior hematopathologist under microscope and using a Leica’s Aperio Lv1 Scanner®. The analysis was done in different days, and the results of the reading were compared to see if there was congruency on the diagnosis. Magnifications used were similar in both methods. Of the 30 samples there was only one in which there was a discordance on the diagnosis resulting on a diagnostic accuracy of 96% which proves Telepathology to be a highly accurate method for diagnosis