CONVENTIONAL BLADDER WASH CYTOLOGY PERFORMED BY 4 EXPERTS VERSUS QUANTITATIVE IMAGE-ANALYSIS

Bladder wash cytology provides superior results for the detection of b ladder malignancies than does voided urine analysis. Image analysis sy stems have been developed for quantification of cytologic features. In this study, routine bladder wash cytology is compared with an automat ed image analysis system (QUANTICYT). We studied a random set of 100 b ladder wash samples from a population of 1614 patients in follow-up af ter bladder cancer. Four experienced pathologists interpreted the same 100 Papanicolaou-stained slides. Cytologic and image analysis results were compared for prediction of a cystoscopic lesion, histologic abno rmalities, and tumor recurrence. After application of receiver operati ng characteristic curves, prediction of a cystoscopic lesion by cytolo gy and image analysis tvas comparable. Both the image analysis system and the cytologic examination detected all of the high-grade lesions. Image analysis tvas superior to cytologic analysis for the prediction of tumor recurrence after normal findings at cystoscopic examination.