Use of the PELICAN software for the creation and export of standardized pathology reports in central nervous system tumors: Example of meningiomas

Introduction: PELICAN (“Partager Efficacement en Laboratoire les Informations des Comptes rendus ANatomopathologiques”) is a software, which generates standardized reports, and allows to automatically create a database. It has been used in central nervous system tumor pathology at the University Hospital of Nancy since 2014. The purpose of this article was to illustrate the use of this application for meningiomas, with a first statistical evaluation. Materials and methods: The export of data included all cases of meningiomas recorded in the PELICAN application until July 2018. The PELICAN application is a Microsoft Excel file containing a software, written in Visual Basic for Applications, and used by the pathologist to create the report. The main clinical data were collected from the Hérault Register census form. Follow-up was systematically reported for atypical meningiomas. Results: Two hundred and ninety-five meningiomas were analyzed, including 250 grade I meningiomas, 42 grade II meningiomas, and 3 grade III meningiomas. Grade II meningiomas were characterized by a significantly higher proportion of men (P = 0.002) and dural infiltration (P < 0.001), a significant increase in the Ki-67 index (P < 0.0001), and a significant decrease in progesterone receptor expression (P < 0.001). In atypical meningiomas, a Ki-67 index of more than 20 % was significantly correlated with a shorter progression-free survival (P = 0.032). Conclusion: The PELICAN software is an easy-to-use tool that allows to generate standardized reports and feed a database, opening very interesting perspectives from an epidemiological and scientific point of view.