New guidelines for the use of tissue analysis techniques (KCE)

The Federal Healthcare Center of Expertise (KCE) recommends the development of “high-quality guidelines” for the use of immunohistochemical staining and electron microscopy, tissue analysis techniques used in particular in the diagnosis of cancerous tissue or for the diagnosis of certain autoimmune diseases.

Face to check that the test results are more and more frequently due to the previous years and different conditions due to the laboratories or the home at home, because there is a demand on the KCE for use there. Our country. In fact, the use of immunohistochemical (IHC) markers has almost doubled between 2012 and 2021, going from 750,000 in 2012 to 1,460,000 in 2021. Electron microscopy (EM) represents a much smaller volume of activity (2,000 to 2,500 examinations per year). However, the cost of the exam is relatively high.

The KCE researchers first noted that current administrative data “represent numerous gaps, leading to a lack of transparency regarding the use of these tests.”

But even if they were more complete, administrative data would not make it possible to evaluate the proper use of IHC markers and electron microscopy, especially because they do not mention a specific indication, admits KCE, who believes that “other methods that can be used to do this, such as audits, must therefore be used.”

“However, this approach can only be considered if laboratories and people responsible for evaluating their activities also have clear, good-quality guidelines for the use of the tests in question,” suggests KCE. “So the first thing to do is to develop, for the most relevant indications (the authors recommend H. pylori and celiac disease for IHC markers and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome for the Middle East), guidelines covering the entire diagnostic pathway and clarifying the cases in which these tests represent added value.” compared to available alternatives,” suggests the Federal Center for Healthcare Expertise.