We’ve received a request from a member about the meaning of 431196006 |Tissue spot (specimen). It was created in 2008 and did not originate from the Read Codes. There are several possible meanings including:
A circular section on a glass slide created by slicing a tissue core embedded in a paraffin block, typically used in tissue microarray analysis.
A “spot”/lesion on a piece of tissue, e.g., a spot on liver . Note: SNOMED CT doesn’t have a concept for “Tissue lesion (specimen)” though it has 309049000 |Lesion specimen (specimen)|.
A marking spot, e.g., “Specimen Orientation Tag (SpOT)”
We are seeking advice from this Group as to whether the meaning of this concept can be reasonably defined and agreed upon, or if the concept is unclear and should be inactivated and replaced with one or two clearly worded concepts.
In discussion with the pathologists in the AP group, the term 431196006 |Tissue spot (specimen)| is ambiguous and should be inactivated as such. Note: many of these possible definitions are intraoperative in nature.
It could be a touch prep in which a section of tissue is “touched” to the glass slide and then stained…In this case, the residual cells on the slide are the intended target of exam.
Crush prep is another possibility where a piece of tissue is crushed (squeezed) between two glass slides and then stained. The intent is to get a large surface area of “touched” cells.
The microarray (circular section) of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue is placed on the slide as noted above. Not an interoperative approach.
It could also related to some molecular specimen preps.
Many thanks for the feedback from the Group. We are planning to inactivate 431196006 |Tissue spot (specimen)| as ambiguous in an upcoming release.
Suzanne