How does the pathologist make diagnosis?

This article discusses briefly about pathology; sub specialties, procedure and role in medical science. Also included in this article the preparation procedure of the specimen, how a diagnosis is made, duration before a diagnosis is made, sample preservation and importance of a histopathologist in patient treatment plan. As defined in this article pathology is the study of disease causes and mechanisms and the changes these have on cells, tissues and organs. Or simply put, it is a study of disease processes or progression with the goal of understanding their nature and causes. Doctors who work on such field are called Pathologist. Mostly, Pathologists tend not to work or interact with patients, but with specimens of tissue or blood taken from the patient, which are then analyzed in order to provide information that will benefit the patient. Pathologists work in a laboratory where among other things, blood tests are processed and most of the time looks at specimens from biopsies under clinical a microscope to be able to diagnose diseases. Although helpful in living patients, a Pathologist also does autopsies on cadavers to find the cause of death.

Pathology is divided into sub specialties which analyzes different components of the human body. Hematology is a branch of pathology which studies and looks for treatment of disorders of cellular components of the blood. Chemical pathology is involved in the study of chemical and hormonal components of blood and other fluids. A chemical pathology is also known as biochemistry or clinical chemistry. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms. Cytopathology is the study in a cellular level, most commonly found in body fluids, taken for example in a pap smear examination. And there is histopathology where it is discussed in detail in this article.

Histopathology is the study of diseases residing in solid tissue. A histopathologist examines a tissue sample taken through a biopsy procedure for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment. Before a specimen could be studied under a clinical microscope, a histopathologist will select a section of the specimen taken from a biopsy. Depending on the size of the specimen, if a specimen is small in size the entire sample will be prepared for microscopic analysis. To be able to view the specimen under a clinical microscope it would undergo slicing. This procedure is needed so that light can easily pass through the section. You may wonder on a very small scale how does a small tissue sample (taken from a biopsy) be sliced even more and handled for analysis? A procedure known as fixation is done on the sliced specimen. Using formalin (or a similar compound) and paraffin wax, it will preserve the thin sliced specimen and also harden making it easier to section the sample. This sample can then be analyzed under a clinical microscope.

The article then further enumerates what happens after the specimen have been carefully sliced and prepared for diagnosis, also the role of the histopathologist on the treatment planning for the patient with the doctor. read more...