Pathology

PBP training adherence reduces errors and time in procedural skills.

Proficiency-based progression (PBP) training reduced performance errors by 58% and procedural time by 28% across randomized studies. PBP studies that met more of the 18 predefined criteria achieved progressively larger performance gains. Eighteen self-labelled PBP studies largely met core benchmarks, and stricter criterion fidelity correlated with better outcomes. Apply PBP methods with documented benchmarks and objective progression requirements when designing procedural curricula. 1

Population PV testing changes screening recommendations compared with clinical risk models.

Among 712 women with pathogenic variants (PVs), only 0.9% of high-penetrance carriers would have been assigned high-risk screening by clinical plus polygenic risk. Many PV carriers aged 40–49 would have been deferred to screening at 50, and many aged 50–74 would have been triaged to biennial mammography. Clinical risk models, with or without polygenic scores, miss most PV-driven high-risk assignments. Consider offering PV testing when screening strategy depends on identifying high-penetrance variant carriers. 2

mNGS reporting positivity varies widely by specimen; BALF most often positive.

In 1,981 first orders, report-interpreted any-positive rates were 90.0% for BALF, 72.5% for blood, 77.9% for tissue, and 26.2% for CSF. BALF positives frequently included multiple reported pathogens, with mixed detections in 76.7% of positive BALF orders. Commonly reported organisms included EBV, Candida albicans, and CMV, noting reports reflect detection frequency not adjudicated pathogenicity. When reviewing clinical mNGS results, weight positivity and multiplicity by specimen type and clinical pretest probability. 3