English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Objective  Tissue biobanks are an important source for discovery and validation studies aiming for new proteins that are causally related with disease development. There is an increasing demand for accurate and reproducible histological characterization, especially for subsequent analysis and interpretation of data in association studies. We assessed reproducibility of one semiquantative and two quantitative methods for histological tissue characterization. We introduce a new automated method for whole digital slide quantification. Carotid atherosclerotic plaques were used to test reproducibility.    Methods  50 atherosclerotic plaques that were obtained during carotid endarterectomy were analysed. For the semiquantitative analysis, 6 different plaque characteristics were scored in categories by two independent observers, and Cohen's κ was used to test intra- and interobserver reproducibility. The computer-aided method (assessed by two independent observers) and automated method were tested on CD68 (for macrophages) and α smooth muscle actin (for smooth muscle cells) stainings. Agreement for these two methods (done on a continuous scale) was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).    Results  For the semiquantitative analysis, κ values ranged from 0.55 to 0.69 for interobserver variability, and were slightly higher for intraobserver reproducibility in both observers. The computer-aided method yielded intra- and interobserver ICCs between 0.6 and 0.9. The new automated method performed most optimal regarding reproducibility, with ICCs ranging from 0.92 to 0.97.    Conclusions  The analysis of performance of three methods for histological slide characterization on carotid atherosclerotic plaques showed high precision and agreement in repeated measurements for the automated method for whole digital slide quantification. We suggest that this method can fulfill the need for reproducible histological quantification.

High Reproducibility of Histological Characterization by Whole Virtual Slide Quantification; An Example Using Carotid Plaque Specimens