AnatomiePathologie

AnatomiePathologie, commonly known as anatomical pathology, is a medical specialty dedicated to diagnosing disease by examining body tissues and organs. It relies on gross examination, microscopic analysis, and increasingly molecular techniques to determine the cause, nature, and extent of disease. Tissues come from surgical resections, biopsies, autopsies, and body fluids, and may include cytology samples such as fine-needle aspirates.

Pathologists study tissue architecture and cellular features using histology and special stains, and they apply immunohistochemistry and molecular tests to refine diagnoses. Major subfields include surgical pathology, cytopathology, autopsy pathology, neuropathology, dermatopathology, forensic pathology, and pediatric pathology. The specialty also collaborates with clinicians to stage cancers and guide treatment decisions.

Key procedures include gross examination of specimens, tissue processing and embedding, slide preparation, and reporting. Intraoperative frozen sections provide rapid preliminary diagnoses to assist surgeons, while final reports integrate clinical information, imaging, and ancillary testing. Molecular and genetic analyses increasingly contribute to precision medicine, including tumor profiling and infectious disease testing.

Training typically involves medical school, a residency in pathology, and subspecialty fellowships. Practice emphasizes quality control, standardization of reporting, and ethical stewardship of patient tissues. The field operates across hospitals, university centers, and reference laboratories and interacts with radiology, oncology, surgery, and forensic medicine.

Anatomical pathology delivers essential diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic information. Its limitations include sampling error and interpretive variability, underscoring the need for multidisciplinary collaboration and ongoing quality assurance and research.