BACKGROUND: Assessing renal biopsies from patients with lupus nephritis (LN) is a difficult task and it is subject to interobserver variability. In this study the interobserver agreement amongst five nephropathologists was analysed. METHODS: Five specialized nephropathologists scored 126 biopsies, comprising 87 first and 39 repeat biopsies from 87 patients with biopsy-proven proliferative LN, included in a randomized controlled trial. The interobserver agreement [expressed as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)] of the scored histopathological items was calculated. Also, the WHO1995 and ISN/RPS2003 classification systems for LN were compared, with extra attention being given to the comparison between patients with diffuse proliferative LN with either segmental (IV-S) or global (IV-G) lesions. RESULTS: There was a wide range of agreement. A good interobserver agreement (ICC>0.6) was present in 15%, and a moderate interobserver agreement (ICC 0.4-0.6) in 31% of the scored items. The activity index for LN showed a good (ICC 0.716) and the chronicity index a moderate (ICC 0.494) interobserver agreement. Both classification systems showed low agreement, although consensus was easily reached. Patients classified as IV-S (n=15) had more favorable clinical parameters at study entry than those with class IV-G (n=57). Although suggested by others, we found no differences in outcome between these two subclasses. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, although definitions were agreed upon beforehand, even specialized on nephropathologists have difficulties with scoring histopathological characteristics of LN, particularly with SLE the classification systems.
BACKGROUND: Assessing renal biopsies from patients with lupus nephritis (LN) is a difficult task and it is subject to interobserver variability. In this study the interobserver agreement amongst five nephropathologists was analysed. METHODS: Five specialized nephropathologists scored 126 biopsies, comprising 87 first and 39 repeat biopsies from 87 patients with biopsy-proven proliferative LN, included in a randomized controlled trial. The interobserver agreement [expressed as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC)] of the scored histopathological items was calculated. Also, the WHO1995 and ISN/RPS2003 classification systems for LN were compared, with extra attention being given to the comparison between patients with diffuse proliferative LN with either segmental (IV-S) or global (IV-G) lesions. RESULTS: There was a wide range of agreement. A good interobserver agreement (ICC>0.6) was present in 15%, and a moderate interobserver agreement (ICC 0.4-0.6) in 31% of the scored items. The activity index for LN showed a good (ICC 0.716) and the chronicity index a moderate (ICC 0.494) interobserver agreement. Both classification systems showed low agreement, although consensus was easily reached. Patients classified as IV-S (n=15) had more favorable clinical parameters at study entry than those with class IV-G (n=57). Although suggested by others, we found no differences in outcome between these two subclasses. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, although definitions were agreed upon beforehand, even specialized on nephropathologists have difficulties with scoring histopathological characteristics of LN, particularly with SLE the classification systems.
Authors: Daniel Abensur Athanazio; Gloria Maria Maranhão Sweet; Carlos Alberto Silva; Washington Luis Conrado dos-Santos Journal: Int Urol Nephrol Date: 2008-11-07 Impact factor: 2.370
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Authors: Suzanne Wilhelmus; H Terence Cook; Laure-Hélène Noël; Franco Ferrario; Ron Wolterbeek; Jan A Bruijn; Ingeborg M Bajema Journal: Clin J Am Soc Nephrol Date: 2014-11-10 Impact factor: 8.237
Authors: Rina Mina; Khalid Abulaban; Marisa S Klein-Gitelman; Barbara A Eberhard; Stacy P Ardoin; Nora Singer; Karen Onel; Lori Tucker; Kathleen O'neil; Tracey Wright; Elizabeth Brooks; Kelly Rouster-Stevens; Lawrence Jung; Lisa Imundo; Brad Rovin; David Witte; Jun Ying; Hermine I Brunner Journal: Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) Date: 2016-02 Impact factor: 4.794