Pathology

Pathology (The study of suffering; Greek: páthos = the disease, lógos = study) In the medical sense, it is the study of the study of causes, how it develops and how it progresses, as well as the anatomical and functional effects of disease processes.

In short, pathology is the study of diseases and disease research.

It provides information about the type of disease and its severity. Especially in the case of cancer when the question "benign or malignant?" a pathologist is usually required. He assesses the type, size, extent and malignancy of a cancer.

After an organ has been surgically removed or a small piece of tissue or cell samples have been removed by a doctor, the pathologist examines the relevant tissue.

Small bioptates are processed directly into section preparations (= histological preparations), which are examined under the microscope. Large specimens are first assessed visually (macroscopically). Conspicuous areas with possible pathological changes are cut out of the specimen and processed into slice specimens in the laboratory.

Performing autopsies and evaluating histological sections under the microscope (light microscope) are the main tasks of the pathologist. In contrast to the macroscopic dissection (syn. autopsy, autopsy), they are in the foreground today.