What is Pathology?
Pathology is the branch of medical science that concentrates
on the structural and functional causes of a particular disease.
In pathology, four main aspects of a disease are studied. It
includes etiology, pathogenesis, morphologic changes and clinical
significance. Medical doctors specially trained for performing clinical
diagnosis are called pathologists. Pathologists work with medical
technologists to determine the presence and absence of a particular disease.
Careful inspection and analysis of tissue and fluid specimens is extremely
important for determining a treatment plan. By the examination of surgical
specimens, interpretation of fluid specimens including blood counts, blood
chemistry, and spinal fluid and analysis of tissue, the pathologists arrive at
a final diagnosis. After performing necessary investigation, the final
pathology report is forwarded to the patient’s physician.
As pathology is an extensive field, pathologists can
concentrate in a specific area or indulge in multiple areas of the field.
Pathology is broadly categorized into two, namely, anatomical pathology and
clinical pathology. Both these specialty areas have many sub-specialties.
Anatomical pathology is the microscopic study of a disease by examining organs
and tissues removed during a biopsy or autopsy. The sub specialty areas of
anatomical pathology are cytopathology, dermatopathology, neuropathology,
pediatric pathology, cardiovascular pathology, surgical pathology, renal
pathology, pulmonary pathology, gynecologic pathology, gastrointestinal
pathology, genitourinary pathology, musculoskeletal ("bone") pathology,
hepatopathology, and genitourinary pathology.
Clinical pathology deals with the diagnosis of the disease
through the evaluation medical laboratory tests of body fluids such as blood
and urine. The sub specialties of clinical pathology include blood banking /
transfusion medicine, hematopathology, mycobacteriology, electron microscopy,
parasitology, toxicology, pathology informatics, medical microbiology,
virology, forensic pathology, and molecular diagnostics.
