patologic

Patologic is an adjective used to denote relation to pathology or disease. It is a relatively uncommon variant spelling of the more standard terms pathologic and pathological. The form derives from the Greek pathos, meaning suffering, combined with -logia, meaning study. In contemporary medical and scientific writing, pathologic or pathological is preferred; patologic may be encountered mainly in historical texts, older literature, or as a nonstandard spelling.

Patologic-related usage typically appears when describing disease-induced changes in tissues, organs, or bodily processes. When used in modern English, pathologic or pathological describes abnormalities or lesions produced by disease, such as pathologic changes in tissue or pathological anatomy. The use of patologic as a standalone adjective to modify nouns (for example, "patologic changes") is less common and may be considered nonstandard or dated in current medical writing.

Historically, in older medical literature, authors sometimes used patologic in established phrases like patologic anatomy or patologic findings. Today, such phrases are usually rendered as "pathologic anatomy" or more commonly as "pathological anatomy" and "pathology findings" or simply "pathology." The broader concept is covered by pathology, the branch of medicine concerned with disease processes, causes, and effects. The relationship among the terms—pathology, pathologic/pathological adjectives, and the historical spelling patologic—reflects shifts in standard terminology over time.

See also: pathology, pathological, pathologic anatomy, psychopathology. Patologic, as a form, is largely historical or variant spelling and is not commonly used in current formal medical writing.