Evaluation of Adequacy of Histopathology Request forms and their Role in Aiding Pathologic Diagnosis

Background: Information furnished in the histopathology request form is very essential for interpreting the specimen received. Insufficient, incorrect or illegible data on request forms can sometimes result in unintended consequences. Objective: To assess the quality of information available to the pathologist on the histopathology request forms and its relevance, whether or not a clinical diagnosis was made, were any differential diagnosis given and the accuracy of the clinical and or differential diagnosis. Results: Of the 351 requests received only 141 (40.17%) were found adequate. Of these only 11 (3.13%) were 100% adequate and had information for all the 10 parameters present on the request form. 18/351 (5.12%) of the request forms did not have the requesting clinician's details. The clinical diagnosis was not specified in 5.4% of the cases. There were 332 cases in which clinical and or differential diagnosis was available. In 269 (81%) cases the histopathology diagnosis matched with the clinical or differential diagnosis. Conclusion: It was found that most of the request forms were lacking in the information requested. Attempts should be made to educate all the clinicians on the importance of adequately completed request forms.