Investigation of Intraoperative and Permanent Diagnostic Consistency in Glial Tumors Considering Rater and Technical Variability

Background and Objectives: One of the most critical areas of measurement and evaluation in healthcare is pathological evaluation, especially intraoperative consultation. Studies conducted to identify sources of error in this field are usually one-sided; however, in evaluation processes with multiple sources of error, such as intraoperative consultation, generalizability theory can evaluate these sources of error simultaneously in a single analysis, thereby contributing to the field. In this study, the reliability of intraoperative and permanent histopathological evaluations of glial tumors was analyzed using generalizability theory to identify the sources of error in the observed evaluation inconsistencies. Materials and Methods: The study included 319 glial tumor cases that underwent intraoperative evaluation and were analyzed using generalizability theory. Three pathologists performed independent evaluations in two stages. Results: The reliability coefficient calculated for all cases was 0.9234 without radiological information and 0.9243 after learning the radiological information. The reliability coefficient was 0.8875 and 0.8989, respectively, in cases over 18 years of age, and 0.8845 and 0.9062 in cases under 18 years of age. These findings indicate that the addition of radiological information to the evaluation resulted in a slight increase in reliability, particularly in cases under 18 years of age. In all of our reliability assessments for different conditions, the highest variability was found to originate from the rater. Conclusions: The findings suggest that intraoperative evaluation demonstrates a high degree of reliability in the pathological assessment of glial tumors. When differences between the rater and the technique are evaluated together, it is observed that the rater has a more significant impact on reliability. While radiological information is generally considered a factor that increases reliability, it is partially more effective, especially in cases involving individuals under the age of 18, which highlights the importance of multidisciplinary data sharing in intraoperative diagnostic processes.