Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology, cilt.12, sa.1, ss.36-39, 2001 (SCI-Expanded)
Background/aims: The aim of this study was to determine the level of inter-observer agreement between pathologists in the application of the Sydney System and to find out whether this grading system is reproducible in routine histopathological practice. Methods: Hematoxylin and eosin and tissue Giemsa stained sections of 50 gastric biopsy specimens were evaluated. These were full thickness mucosa of at least one corpus and one antral biopsy, diagnosed as chronic gastritis during routine histopathological examination within the previous year and they were assessed according to the revised Sydney System by three gastrointestinal pathologists. Each observer graded chronic inflammation, activity, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia and Helicobacter pylori density in the corpus and antrum on a scale 0-3. The measurement of agreement among observers and the pairwise agreement on the histopathological grades were examined by "measures of agreement among k raters" and kappa statistics respectively. Results: While the proportion of overall agreement on the various features by the observers ranged from 22% for atrophy in the corpus to 96% for intestinal metaplasia in the corpus, that of pairwise agreement ranged from 34% for atrophy in the corpus to 98% for antral intestinal metaplasia. Conclusions: Although the results of this study showed poor to moderate inter-observer agreement, we believe that this promising classification has a potential value in routine practice and that the problems faced during application of the system will be overcome by time and experience.