Introduction to General Pathology and

HistoTechniques
Preped by: Billy Africa, RMT, MPH
• Learning Objectives:
– At the end of the session, the students are expected to be able
to:
• Understand the mission-vision of the university.
• Apply the vision-mission of the university in everyday life.
• Analyze the value of general pathology in diagnosis of diseases
• Recognize the different diseases affecting different tissues
• Histotechnology

– Is the art and science performed by the histotechnologist to

• Histopathologic Technique
– Involves different procedures that have been adopted for the
preparation of materials and tissue for microscopic
examination.
• Pathology
– In ancient Greek pathos = pain and logos = word
– Also called pathobiology.
– Bridging discipline of basic science and clinical practice
– Study of the structural and functional changes in cells. Tissues, and
organs that underlie disease
– Aspects of diseases forming the core of pathology
– Etiology/Cause
– Pathogenesis/Mechanism of development
– Morphologic changes/structural alterations
– Clinical significance/functional consequences
• **The microscope is an important factor in detecting
tissue changes, especially in the examination of small
sections of tissue removed for diagnosis; for this reason
real progress in pathology was not made until the 19th
cent.
• Pathogenesis
– The development of a diseased or morbid condition.
• Pathologist
– A physician who interprets and diagnoses the changes
– cause by disease in the body.
– A specialist physician expert in the origin and development of disease and
the microscopic analysis of body tissues.
– A physician who studies all aspects of disease with an emphasis on the
nature, causes, and development of abnormal conditions, as well as the
structural and functional changes that result from disease processes
– The laboratory expert behind the front-line clinical team.
• Medical technologist
– An Allied Health Professional who performs diagnostic analysis
on human blood, urine, and body fluids such as cerebral spinal
fluid, peritoneal, pericardial, and synovial, as well as other
specimens such as stool and sputum.
• Histology
– Is the branch of biology which studies the
microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. 
– Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy,
which looks at larger structures visible without a microscope.
• There are four basic types of animal tissues: 
– 1.Muscle tissue 
– 2.Nervous tissue
– 3.Connective tissue
– 4.Epithelial tissue
• Epithelium
– Epithelial tissues line the outer surfaces of organs and blood
vessels throughout the body, as well as the inner surfaces
of cavities in many internal organs.
• Squamous epithelium has cells that are wider than their height (flat
and scale-like). This is found as the lining of the mouth, oesophagus,
and including blood vessels and in the alveoli of the lungs.
• Cuboidal epithelium has cells whose height and width are
approximately the same (cube shaped).
• Columnar epithelium has cells taller than they are wide (column-
shaped). Columnar epithelium can be further classified into ciliated
columnar epithelium and glandular columnar epithelium.
• Muscle tissue
–  Is a soft tissue that composes muscles in animal bodies, and gives
rise to muscles' ability to contract. This is opposed to other
components or tissues in muscle such as tendons or perimysium. It is
formed during embryonic development through a process known
as myogenesis.
– 
• Skeletal muscle
– striated in structure and under voluntary control, is anchored by tendons (or by aponeuroses at
a few places) to bone and is used to effect skeletal movement such as locomotion and to
maintain posture. (Though postural control is generally maintained as an unconscious reflex the
muscles responsible also react to conscious control like non-postural muscles.) An average
adult male is made up of 42% of skeletal muscle and an average adult female is made up of
36% (as a percentage of body mass). It also has striations unlike smooth muscle.
• Smooth muscle
– neither striated in structure nor under voluntary control, is found within the walls of organs and
structures such as the esophagus, stomach, intestines, bronchi, uterus, urethra, bladder, blood
vessels, and the arrector pili in the skin (in which it controls erection of body hair).
• Cardiac muscle (myocardium)
– found only in the heart, is a striated muscle similar in structure to skeletal muscle but not
subject to voluntary control.
• Connective tissue (CT)
– It develops from the mesoderm. Connective tissue is found in
between other tissues everywhere in the body, including
the nervous system. In the central nervous system, the three
outer membranes (the meninges) that envelop
the brain and spinal cord are composed of connective tissue.
They support and protect the body. All connective tissue
consists of three main components: fibers
(elastic and collagenous fibers), ground substance and cells. 
• Nervous tissue
– Also called neural tissue, is the main tissue component of
the nervous system. The nervous system regulates and controls
bodily functions and activity and consists of two parts:
– the central nervous system (CNS) comprising the brain and spinal
cord, and
– the peripheral nervous system (PNS) comprising the branching
peripheral nerves.
– It is composed of neurons, also known as nerve cells, which
receive and transmit impulses, and neuroglia, also known as glial
cells or glia, which assist the propagation of the nerve impulse as
well as provide nutrients to the neurons.
• Autopsy
• In Greek, a seeing for oneself : auto-, auto- + opsis, sight
• Also called necropsy, postmortem examination.
• Systematic examination of a cadaver for study or for
determining the cause of death.
• Uses many methodical procedures to determine the
etiology and pathogenesis of diseases, for epidemiologic
purposes, for establishment of genetic causes, for family
counsel
• Biopsy
• Examination of cells or tissues from a living organism.
• **Excised material may be studied in order to diagnose
disease or to confirm findings of normality.
• **Incisions may be made and total or partial lesions
removed in the form of wedges or cylindrical pieces, or
scrapings of the surface membranes of internal organs
may be collected.
• DIVISIONS OF PATHOLOGY
• General Pathology
– Basic reaction of cells and tissues to abnormal stimuli that
underlie all diseases

• Systemic Pathology
– Specific responses of specialized organs and tissues
Divisions of Pathology
• I. Gross Pathology & Microscopic Pathology
• II. Anatomic Pathology
• III. Clinical Pathology
• I. Gross Pathology & Microscopic Pathology
• Gross pathology
•  The recognition of disease based on macroscopic
examination of surgical specimens generated at the time
of surgery or at autopsy.
• Microscopic pathology
•  The recognition of disease based on microscopic
examination of surgical specimens generated at the time
of surgery or at autopsy.
• II. Anatomic Pathology
• A. Surgical Pathology
• B. Autopsy Pathology
• C. Exfoliative Cytology
• Anatomic pathology
•  The study of changes in the function, structure, or appearance of organs or
tissues, including postmortem examinations and the study of biopsy specimens.
– A. Surgical Pathology
–  The pathology of disease processes that are surgically accessible for diagnosis or
treatment.
–  The study of gross appearance and histology of tissues removed during surgery
– B. Autopsy Pathology
–  It involves the external and internal examination of a human body after death.
–  The study of gross appearance and histology of tissues removed following death
– C. Exfoliative Cytology
–  A branch of General Cytology which deals with the microscopic study of cells that have
been desquamated from the epithelial surfaces
III. Clinical Pathology
• A. Clinical Chemistry (incl. Toxicology)
• B. Hematology
• C. Blood Banking (incl Transfusion Medicine)
• D. Microbiology
• E. Clinical Immunology & Serology
• Clinical Pathology
•  The branch of general pathology directed to the diagnosis and monitoring
of diseases through the examination of blood, body fluids, secretions, and
tissue biopsy specimens for chemical, morphological, microbiological, and
immunological abnormalities.
– **identifies and interprets changes that characterize different diseases or
disease states in cells, tissues, and fluids of the body
– **monitor the metabolic status of patients under medical therapy
– **decipher specific markers that characterize individual patients for
purposes such as transfusion or transplantation
Clinical Chemistry (incl Toxicology)
– Division of clinical pathology involving biochemical analysis performed on human
samples (blood, fluids, tissues) outside the body (in vitro).
• **Substances which could be assayed include sugars, lipids, proteins, antibodies, enzymes,
hormones, vitamins, metals, electrolytes.
• **Methods employed are spectrophotometry, fluorometry, enzyme kinetics, enzyme
immunoassay (EIA), electrophoresis, flame photometry, ion selective electrodes, HPLC, gas
chromatography, mass spectrometry, and atomic absorption spectrometry.
• **Most instruments are however almost completely automated.
•  In the toxicology subsection, the blood, urine, and other body fluids are
analyzed for the presence of drugs and substances of abuse.
•  An equally important application of toxicology testing is to measure the
blood levels of therapeutic drugs to assure that concentrations are adequate
to treat the disease but not so high as to cause toxic side effects.
Hematology
•  Involves assessment of the cellular elements (red blood cells, white blood cells,
and platelets) in blood samples.
•  The blood cells may be enumerated, either by manual cell-counting techniques or
by automated particle_x0002_sensing and sizing instruments.
•  Microscopic observation of stained peripheral blood smear is limited to assessing
the morphology of atypical cells as they may appear in cases of dysplastic
syndromes and overt leukemias.
• Pathologists specialized in this field (hematopathologists) also examine bone
marrow and lymph node biopsies. They are expert in the field of anemia, leukemia
and lymphomas.
– **In complicated cases where the diagnosis of a hematological disorder cannot be made by
study of the peripheral blood smear, a bone marrow examination may be necessary.
Blood Banking (incl Transfusion Medicine)
–  Also called Immunohematology
–  A division of clinical pathology that deals with collection,
storage, compatibility and safety of blood and its various
components for the purpose of human transfusion.
**Specific tasks include:
– 1. blood collection after donor screening
– 2. chemical and serologic tests to exclude transmission of infective diseases
– 3. component preparation and proper storage
– 4. blood typing, screening for antibodies against red cells and compatibility testing
– 5. immunophenotyping of blood cells
– 6. investigation into transfusion reactions
– 7. apheresis & plasmapheresis
Microbiology (incl Immunology)
–  A division of clinical pathology involved in isolation, culture, and identification, of micro-organisms
(parasites, fungi, bacteria & viruses) in biological samples.
–  In addition to conventional microscopic and biochemical methods for identification, DNA/RNA based
assays (including PCR) and immunoassays are increasingly being used.
–  Subdivisions include bacteriology, parasitology, mycology (fungi) and virology.
–  Presumptive identification of microbes can be made by microscopically examining direct mounts of an
appropriate portion of the specimen or thin smears that have been stained with one of a variety of dyes.
–  Rapid presumptive diagnoses can also be made by directly testing specimens with a variety of
immunological reagents.
–  Specimens are applied to the surface of a variety of agar culture media for the purpose of recovering
in pure culture any bacterial species that may be clinically significant.
–  Gram stains may determine the cellular morphology and staining characteristics of the bacteria, and a
variety of rapid, direct tests can be performed to provide an early identification.
• The laboratory identification of fungi and the diagnosis of fungal infections is similar to that
described for the bacteria.
•  Specimens are inoculated on special fungal media, the plates are incubated for periods as long
as 4 weeks, and the growth of any mold or yeast is identified morphologically and biochemically.
•  Nucleic acid probes are available to quickly confirm any fungus colony suspected of being one of
the dangerous pathogens
• The laboratory identification of parasites involves detecting microscopically the typical forms in
body fluids and secretions
•  Viruses can live only in viable cells and, for the most part, can survive briefly outside human or
animal hosts.
•  culture techniques must use embryonated eggs, cell culture suspensions, thin cell sheets called
monolayers, or laboratory animals.
•  Species of viruses are identified by observing their ability to produce certain cytopathic effects in
the cells where they are growing or to cause recognizable diseases in laboratory animals.
Clinical Immunology and Serology
•  The discipline in which infectious diseases are
diagnosed by detecting antibodies in serum and other
body fluids.
•  In practice, immunologic and serologic techniques are
used to diagnose an infectious disease when the agent
may be too difficult to recover in culture.
The Medical Technologist’s Role in the Health Care Process
• A Medical Technologist's role in the healthcare process is to provide accurate results in a
timely manner.
•  These results will ultimately be used to help make a diagnosis or monitor treatment.
•  Observe details of cells, ova and cysts of parasitic infections
•  Test wether the blood of the donor is compatible with the blood of patient-recipient
•  Utilize special stains to identify microorganisms.
•  Measure substances in blood and other body substance
•  Reagent preparation
•  Collect specimen for study
•  Preparation of specimen
•  Quality control
• Disease
– Abnormal condition of an organism
– that impairs bodily functions
– Caused by:
• External factors-invading organism
• Internal factors- autoimmune disease, congenital, hereditary disorders.
• Manifestation of Disease
– Signs- evidence of disease: an idication of the presence of the
disease, especially one observed by a doctor but may/ may not
apparent to the patient.
– Symptoms- indication of illness felt by the patient
Factors predisposing an individual to disease
• 1.Behavioral
• Obesity- HD, DM, CA
• Smoking- Lung cancer, emphysema, HD, LBWI, Arteriosclerosis
• Alcohol use- mouth cancers, complications of pregnancy, LBWI
• 2. Mental/ emotional
• 3. Environmental
• a. Air pollution-emphysema, bronchitis,lung cancer
• b. living near the toxic waste dumps- spontaneous abortion
• c. Pesticide- birth defect
• 4. Genetics
• 5. Drugs
• 6. Lifestyle