advancing-surgical-pathology-reporting-head-neck-cancer-through-3d

Advancing Surgical Pathology Reporting in Head and Neck Cancer through 3D Visualization, Dynamic Documentation, and Optimized Communication

The successful surgical management of head and neck cancer relies on intraoperative communication between surgical and pathological teams to achieve ...

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Due to their shared embryologic origin, the association between ectopic parathyroid glands and the thymus is well recognized. Abnormal implantation of thymic tissue during embryological migration to the mediastinum can lead to ectopic cervical thymus.

Undescended Ectopic Parathyroid Adenoma Within Ectopic Cervical Thymus in the Carotid Sheath.

Contemporary cancer management relies on the precise transfer of information regarding disease and treatment details between a range of providers and facilities. The time of surgery is uniquely responsible for many ambiguities in this oncological information flow, as intraoperative communication and documentation are often unregimented and imprecise. Downstream providers such as radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, and radiologists rely on surgical pathology reports for planning postoperative treatment and surveillance. However, traditional pathology reports lack critical details about the actions taken during surgery and do not make the oncologic clearance status explicit. We identified agents of change to improve information transfer and designed an improved surgical workflow and pathology report that make use of a novel pathologic reporting software to address gaps in the oncologic care timeline. Our updated workflow results in a dynamic final pathology report that integrates annotated 3D scans of the surgical specimen and extirpative defect, unequivocal reconciliation of at-risk and supplemental margins, highlighted preoperative radiographs, and brief narrative summaries by the surgeon and pathologist. These tangible changes aim to improve clarity and continuity in oncologic care.

Identifying and closing information gaps in head and neck cancer surgery.

Surgical pathology reports are crucial to the delivery of personalized and coordinated cancer management. However, traditional reports often lack clarity and comprehensiveness, which can lead to misinterpretation or suboptimal therapeutic planning. To address these issues, we developed MarginView3D (MV3D), a novel surgical pathology reporting software. This software integrates real-time three-dimensional (3D) visualizations of surgical specimens, surgical defects, anatomic models, annotated radiographs, and audiovisual narrative summaries from surgeons and pathologists to enhance the care of patients with head and neck cancer.

MarginView3D: A Novel Software Enabling Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Surgical Pathology Documentation for Improved Intra- and Postoperative Cancer Care.

Article	Year
Undescended Ectopic Parathyroid Adenoma Within Ectopic Cervical Thymus in the Carotid Sheath. Head & neck\| PubMed ID: 40444454	2025
Identifying and closing information gaps in head and neck cancer surgery. Seminars in oncology\| PubMed ID: 40505388	2025
MarginView3D: A Novel Software Enabling Comprehensive Three-Dimensional Surgical Pathology Documentation for Improved Intra- and Postoperative Cancer Care. Annals of surgical oncology\| PubMed ID: 40616761	2025

Luke Stanisce

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