Critical diagnoses (critical values) in anatomic pathology.

Similar to critical values in clinical pathology, occasional diagnoses in surgical pathology and cytology may require urgent contact of the physician to facilitate rapid intervention or treatment. However, there are no established critical value (critical diagnosis) guidelines in anatomic pathology. As discussed herein, the Association of Directors of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology (ADASP) believes that establishing anatomic pathology critical diagnosis guidelines represents a practice improvement and patient safety initiative. ADASP also recognizes that a generic anatomic pathology critical diagnosis guideline such as this should only be used as a template, because the list needs to be customized at each individual hospital after consultation with relevant clinical services. Based on surveys of the membership of the ADASP, this document provides examples of possible critical diagnoses in anatomic pathology.