Implication of the Examining Pathologist to Meet the Oncologic Standard of Lymph Node Count after Laparoscopic Lymphadenectomy

<i>Objective:</i> The lymph node number as benchmark in oncologic operations depends on the patient’s anatomy, surgeon’s skill and pathologist’s accuracy. The influence of the pathologist is barely evaluated. <i>Methods:</i> A retrospective analysis of lymph node numbers after 700 laparoscopic lymphadenectomies in correlation to the examining pathologists was done. Three surgeons from the same department performed all operations at 2 campi, where 2 separate pathology institutions exist. Lymph node specimens were assigned randomly to any of the 62 involved pathologists. <i>Results:</i> The mean number of lymph nodes was equal for all surgeons. Lymph node s…