Pathological Terminology
Table of Contents
Introduction
The word ‘Pathology’ is derived from two Greek words—pathos meaning suffering, and logos meaning study. Pathology is, thus, scientific study of structure and function of body in disease or in other words, pathology consists of abnormalities that occur in normal anatomy (including histology) and physiology owing to disease.
Terminology
Pathophysiology
‘Pathophysiology’ comprised by two words : patho=suffering; physiology=study of normal function. It includes study of disordered function
or breakdown of homeostasis in diseases.
Health
Health may be defined as a condition when individual is in complete accord with the surroundings,
Disease
A disease is loss of ease (or comfort) to the body (i.e. dis-ease). However, it must be borne in mind that in
health there is wide range of ‘normality’ e.g. in height, weight, blood and tissue chemical composition etc.
Patient
Patient is the person affected by disease.
Lesions
Lesions are characteristic changes in tissues and cells produced by disease in an individual or experimental
animal.
Pathologic changes or morphology
Pathologic changes or morphology consist of examination of diseased tissues.
Pathologic changes
Pathologic changes can be recognised with naked eye (gross or macroscopic changes) or studied by microscopic examination of tissues.
Etiology
Causal factors responsible for the lesions are included
in etiology of disease (i.e. ‘why’ of disease).
Pathogenesis
Mechanism by which the lesions are produced is termed pathogenesis of disease (i.e. ‘how’ of disease).
Symptoms
Functional implications of the lesion felt by the patient are symptoms and those discovered by clinician are physical signs.
Diagnosis
what is wrong
Prognosis
what is going to happen
Treatment
what can be done about it
Prevention
what should be done to avoid complications
Techniques for the Study of Pathology
AUTOPSY PATHOLOGY
Professor William Boyd in his unlimitable style wrote ‘Pathology had its beginning on autopsy table’. r, G.B. Morgagni in Italy (1682- 1771) and T.H.A Laennec (1781-1826) in France started collecting case records of hospital cases and began correlation of clinical features with lesions observed at autopsy a thus marked beginning of clinicopathologic correlation (CPC). CPC continues to be most important form of clinical teaching activity in medical institutions worldwide.
Traditionally, there are two method for carrying out autopsy, either of which may be followed:
- Block extraction of abdominal and thoracic organs.
- In situ organ-by-organ dissection.
SURGICAL PATHOLOGY
The term surgical pathology is currently applied synonymously with the histopathology, anatomic pathology ,morbid anatomy, and cellular pathology. Surgical pathology is classic and time-tested method of tissue diagnosis made on gross and microscopic study of tissues.
SPECIAL STAINS (HISTOCHEMISTRY)
H & E staining is routinely used to diagnose microscopically. The staining depends upon either physical or chemical or differential solubility of the stain with the tissues.
ENZYME HISTOCHEMISTRY
Enzyme histochemical techniques require fresh tissues for cryostat section and cannot be applied to paraffin-embedded sections or formalin-fixed tissues since enzymes are damaged rapidly.
Currently, enzyme histochemistry has limited diagnostic applications and not so popular, partly due to requirement of fresh tissues and complex technique, and partly due to relative lack of specificity of reaction in many cases, and hence have been largely superseded by immunohistochemical procedures and molecular pathology techniques.
BASIC MICROSCOPY
Microscope is the basic tool of pathologist just as is stethoscope for the physician and speculum for gynecologists’. It’s an instrument which produces greatly enlarged images of minute objects.
TYPES OF EM
1. Transmission electron microscope (TEM).
2. Scanning electron microscope (SEM).
IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the application of immunologic techniques to the cellular pathology. The technique is used to detect status and localisation of particular antigen in cells (membrane, cytoplasm or nucleus) by use of specific antibodies which are then visualised by chromogen as brown colour.
FLOW CYTOMETRY
Flow cytometry is a modern tool used for the study of properties of cells suspended in a single moving stream. Flow cytometry, thus, overcomes the problem of subjectivity involved in microscopic examination of cells and tissues in histopathology and cytopathology.
Why My Knee Hurt and Fix It?
Why My Knee Hurt and Fix It? Knee hurt is a common problem that can affect your daily routine, especially when walking, running, or climbing
Understanding ALL about Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease of synovium (a thin, soft connective tissue membrane that lines the inner surface of synovial joints) characteristics
Different menstrual cycle phases
Stages of menstrual cycle Phases Let’s start this article with my story of mensturation , I was 15 when I got my first period and
What is pain scale & how it works
What is pain scale & how it works ? What is a Pain scale? A pain scale is a tool developed by therapists and doctors
What should we eat during periods to reduce pain?
Home During period, the right food choices can make a huge difference in how your body feels. Warm, comforting drinks like ginger tea or turmeric
How to perform Neurological assessment ?
Home Download a PDF of Neurological Assessment sheet- Click on this Every Neurological assessment starts with taking the demographic data from patient. A demographic data