The Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology A Cytohistologic Correlation and Interobserver Study From a Large Academic Medical Center

Objectives Our study assesses whether the Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology (MSRSGC) offers any benefit over the original cytology classification, and measures interobserver agreement. Methods Four cytopathologists retrospectively blindly classified preoperative cytology by MSRSGC from 101 resected salivary tumors. Consensus MSRSGC diagnoses were correlated with surgical pathology diagnoses and compared with the original cytology classification. Diagnostic parameters were calculated for both systems. Interobserver variability was assessed. Results The original cytology classification vs MSRSGC had sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 75.0% vs 78.3%, 97.1% vs 98.0%, 91.2% vs 94.7%, and 90.1% vs 90.0%, respectively. The original cytology classification risk of neoplasm (RON) was 91.7% for negative for malignancy and 100.0% for other categories. The MSRSGC RON was 71.4% in category II (nonneoplastic) and 100.0% in all other categories. The original cytology classification risk of malignancy (ROM) ranged from 0.0% for atypical to 100.0% for positive for malignancy. The MSRSGC ROM ranged from 0.0% in categories I (nondiagnostic) and III (nonneoplastic) to 100.0% in category VI (malignant). Weighted agreement using the MSRSGC was 92% (Gwet AC1, 0.84); unweighted agreement was 69% (Gwet AC1, 0.64). MSRSGC category IVA (benign neoplasm) was most likely to show interobserver agreement, with complete agreement in 67% of cases. Conclusions The MSRSGC performs similarly to the original cytology classification and shows relatively high interobserver agreement.

Automated summary

This study assessed the benefits of the Milan System for Reporting Salivary Gland Cytopathology (MSRSGC) over the original cytology classification and measured interobserver agreement. The results showed that MSRSGC performs similarly to the original cytology classification and has relatively high interobserver agreement.