CY Survey Case Submission Guidelines

The CAP/American College of Medical Genetics Cytogenetics Resource Committee has criteria in which cases are evaluated before they are used in a CY Survey.

Use the following criteria when assessing a case for submission and provide all the information outlined.

Cases can be submitted electronically.

If a case is chosen to be used in a CY Survey, the submitting laboratory will be reimbursed $200.00 for each case and will be acknowledged at the end of the Survey year in which the images were used.

Submission Criteria

• Select cases that are technically good examples of abnormalities a cytogenetics laboratory might reasonably expect to encounter.
• Complete the Clinical Information Form. (link to form - we need to get the form) The form requires information about the case history and laboratory contact person.
• Submit 6-10 cells per case
  For each cell, submit:
  • Enhanced karyotype
  • Unenhanced/raw metaphase
  • Enhanced metaphase
• Metaphase guidelines
  • Preferably 96 dpi measuring 8 x 6 TIFF images.
  • No red boundary lines
  • No fused box frames around chromosomes
  • No halos around a chromosome (occurs when a chromosome is enhanced by itself, in karyotype mode. You improve the karyotype, but leave effects on the metaphase.)
  • Fuse entire cell into one frame for both sets of images. The enhanced and raw/unenhanced images need to match
  • Do not remove debris or nuclei that are close to a chromosome
• Rename lab images with sequential numbers 1-10, when possible
• Double check that all submitted cells:
  • Are complete
  • Are not in duplicate, are not flipped or rotated and in duplicate
  • Have abnormal chromosomes un-overlapped or the region of the abnormality is not overlapped
• Every cell should be at the 400-band level or higher.
• They should have few overlaps and, in particular, have no overlaps in regions critical to characterizing the abnormality (Although we do not prefer cells with triple overlaps, if this cannot be avoided, please paste a copy of the overlap in your cell and draw a box around it.)
• Results from other staining techniques can be provided when pertinent and of educational value.
• Cases submitted must be stripped of all identifiers, except for a unique laboratory identifier, eg, laboratory id number.
• Images can be submitted electronically (by e-mail or using the committee’s collaborative site). TIFF images can be submitted on a CD at meetings or through the mail.

Submit Cases

College of American Pathologists
Surveys Department
Penny Eagle, CLSp(CG)
325 Waukegan Road
Northfield, IL 60093
peagle@cap.org