Can you count on the mitotic index?

Timothy J. O'Leary, Michael W. Steffes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The mitotic index (MI) is the most commonly used quantitative measure in anatomic pathology but has been widely criticized for supposed 'irreproducibility.' In this article, the authors show that mitotic figure (MF) counts may be described by a Poisson distribution, give confidence intervals for the MI, and show that the supposed irreproducibility is largely a consequence of the counting techniques. They also show how to obtain the MI to a predetermined level of precision and present an analysis of why mitotic figure counting works, when properly used, despite the inherently low precision of the estimates that are usually obtained.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)147-151
Number of pages5
JournalHuman Pathology
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 1996

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Mitotic Index
Poisson Distribution
Confidence Intervals
Pathology

Keywords

  • Poisson distribution
  • breast carcinoma
  • confidence intervals
  • leiomyosarcoma
  • mitotic figure
  • mitotic index

Cite this

Can you count on the mitotic index? / O'Leary, Timothy J.; Steffes, Michael W.

In: Human Pathology, Vol. 27, No. 2, 01.01.1996, p. 147-151.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

O'Leary, TJ & Steffes, MW 1996, 'Can you count on the mitotic index?', Human Pathology, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 147-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0046-8177(96)90367-6
O'Leary TJ, Steffes MW. Can you count on the mitotic index? Human Pathology. 1996 Jan 1;27(2):147-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0046-8177(96)90367-6
O'Leary, Timothy J. ; Steffes, Michael W. / Can you count on the mitotic index?. In: Human Pathology. 1996 ; Vol. 27, No. 2. pp. 147-151.
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