LAUSR

Objective The objective of this study was to compare the final diagnosis agreement between 4 pathologists when they follow the Horn criteria and the NIH criteria for analysis of oral mucosa and minor salivary glands biopsies possible affected by GVHD. Findings 41 slides of oral mucosa and minor salivary glands obtained from individuals with GVHD were analyzed by 4 oral pathologists. Following the Horn criteria based on minor salivary gland and oral mucosa independently, all pathologists gave the same final diagnosis in 11 out of 41 cases, 3 of them agreed in 12 cases and 2 in 18 cases. Following NIH Consensus based on specific criteria in both epithelium and salivary glands, 4 pathologists gave the same final diagnosis in 9 out of 41 cases, 3 agreed in 24 cases and 2 in 7 cases. One case received 4 different diagnoses. To verify the agreement inter-observer in both oral cGVHD classifications, Kappa test showed to Horn classification k=0.22 and to NIH consensus k=0.35. Conclusions The concordance of the final diagnosis of oral mucosa biopsies of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients suspected of GVHD was very low when the pathologists followed both the Horn criteria and NIH consensus.