Bone Marrow Synoptic Reporting for Hematologic Neoplasms

Publication Date: February 23, 2016
Last Updated: March 14, 2022

Recommendations

1. Laboratories should adopt synoptic reporting as a component of bone marrow pathology reports for clearly defined neoplasia or widely applied classification schemes and receive appropriate institutional support. (Strong recommendation)
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2. When reporting on peripheral blood specimens for bone marrow synoptic reports, laboratories should report clinically and diagnostically pertinent elements, if available. These key elements may include one or more parameters from complete blood cell count, absolute cell counts, and relevant morphologic descriptors. (Strong recommendation)
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3. When reporting bone marrow aspirate results, laboratories should report clinically and diagnostically pertinent elements in the synoptic section. These key elements may include the evidence-based parameters such as blast percentage, dysplasia, myeloid to erythroid ratio, morphology of myeloid/ lymphoid elements, and enumeration of lymphoid elements and plasma cells; additional elements may be included in nonsynoptic sections of the report.
  • blast percentage
(Strong recommendation)
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  • all other parameters.
(Recommendation)
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4. When reporting bone marrow core biopsy results, laboratories should report clinically or diagnostically pertinent elements in the synoptic section. These key elements may include the evidence-based parameters such as fibrosis, cellularity, distribution pattern of hematopoietic elements, morphology of lymphoid elements, and enumeration of lymphoid elements and plasma cells; additional elements may be included in nonsynoptic sections of the report.
  • fibrosis
(Strong recommendation)
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  • all other parameters.
(Recommendation)
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5. If relevant ancillary testing studies are performed on the primary sample (blood or bone marrow), laboratories should report the results, general methodology, performance site and interpretation site or have the data be readily available. If the results are not available, pending status should be explicitly stated. (Strong recommendation)
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6. Laboratories should include in the synoptic section of the report data groups for diagnosis, supporting studies, and ancillary data that are critical for diagnosis. Key morphologic descriptors should be included and may be in the diagnosis line if critical or if a component of the disease classification. The diagnosis (or diagnosis group) should head the synoptic section when possible. A narrative interpretative comment should immediately follow the synoptic section if required.
  • inclusion of data groups for diagnosis, supporting studies, and ancillary data
(Strong recommendation)
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  • layout of the data groups.
(Recommendation)
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7. Laboratories should consider the integrity of electronic data transmission for formatting and data presentation of synoptic reports. (Strong recommendation)
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8. No recommendation is made regarding the inclusion of coding terms in a synoptic report because coding terms are distinct from scientific terms and vary considerably among health authorities, payers, and different countries. (No recommendation)
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9. Laboratories should include clinical and laboratory data required for a definitive diagnosis in the synoptic section, along with its source(s), if applicable. (Recommendation)
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Recommendation Grading

Overview

Title

Bone Marrow Synoptic Reporting for Hematologic Neoplasms

Authoring Organization

College of American Pathologists

Publication Month/Year

February 23, 2016

Last Updated Month/Year

June 1, 2023

Supplemental Implementation Tools

Document Type

Guideline

External Publication Status

Published

Country of Publication

US

Document Objectives

To develop evidence-based recommendations to standardize the basic components of a synoptic report template for bone marrow samples.

Inclusion Criteria

Male, Female, Adolescent, Adult, Child, Infant, Older adult

Health Care Settings

Hospital, Outpatient

Intended Users

Nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, physician assistant

Scope

Assessment and screening

Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D007938 - Leukemia, D019046 - Bone Marrow Neoplasms

Keywords

Bone Marrow, Hematologic Neoplasms

Supplemental Methodology Resources

Data Supplement, Methodology Supplement

Methodology

Number of Source Documents
104
Literature Search Start Date
January 1, 2002
Literature Search End Date
October 1, 2012