TY - JOUR
T1 - Interobserver agreement of scoring of histopathological characteristics and classification of lupus nephritis
AU - Grootscholten, Cecile
AU - Bajema, Ingeborg M.
AU - Florquin, Sandrine
AU - Steenbergen, Eric J.
AU - Peutz-Kootstra, Carine J.
AU - Goldschmeding, Roel
AU - Bijl, Marc
AU - Hagen, E. Christiaan
AU - van Houwelingen, Hans C.
AU - Derksen, Ronald H. W. M.
AU - Berden, Jo H. M.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - 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
AB - 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
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfm555
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfm555
M3 - Article
C2 - 17981886
SN - 0931-0509
VL - 23
SP - 223
EP - 230
JO - Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation
JF - Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation
IS - 1
ER -