BACKGROUND: There has been no in-depth study examining the preanalytical direct immunofluorescence (DIF) biopsy phase for @entity1 with cicatricial @entity2024 . METHODS: 90 @entity1 with cicatricial @entity2024 had biopsies taken for DIF. The study examined the following biopsy and clinical parameters: Age and sex of @entity1 , unilateral or bilateral involvement, unilateral or bilateral biopsy, site of biopsy, nature of biopsy site (normal or diseased), number of biopsies per eye, size of biopsy, medium in which biopsy sent, whether buccal mucosa biopsied, whether tissue biopsied for histology (fixed in @entity406 ) DIF results for conjunctival and buccal biopsies and final clinicopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: Most cases had unilateral sampling despite many cases showing bilateral disease. 15/90 cases had buccal biopsies. The conjunctival site for biopsy was not consistent from case to case. The mean maximum biopsy size was 3.3   mm length, 1   mm depth. No case was inadequate for DIF. Biopsies were obtained from conjunctiva with varying disease activity. 80/90 cases were sent in an appropriate medium permitting DIF. DIF+ biopsy rates were not affected by biopsy site disease activity. Five cases of bilateral involvement and bilateral biopsies showed only unilateral DIF+. In five cases, the conjunctival biopsies were DIF+ and the buccal biopsy was DIF-. Five cases showed in situ and @entity189 seen on the accompanying @entity406 -fixed biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: DIF biopsies for cicatricial @entity2024 showed highly variable preanalytical phase sampling practice that requires national and international standardisation to facilitate prompt diagnosis, treatment, research and audit.

Biopsies of cicatricial XXXX cases reveal highly variable sampling practice among ophthalmologists: time for national and international standardisation.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity406 :: ('MESH:D005557', 'Chemical') :: ['formalin'] @entity189 :: ('MESH:D002277', 'Disease') :: ['invasive carcinoma'] @entity2024 :: ('MESH:D003231', 'Disease') :: ['conjunctivitis']
@entity2024 :: (MESH:D003231,Disease) :: ['conjunctivitis']
