Pathology Cheat Sheet
Follow the Disease Story
Pathologist role and disease reasoning for NEET-PG: etiology vs pathogenesis, morphology, biopsy vs cytology vs resection, and clinicopathological correlation.
MedNext Academy | 3 min read
Follow the Disease Story
Pathologist role and disease reasoning for NEET-PG: etiology vs pathogenesis, morphology, biopsy vs cytology vs resection, and clinicopathological correlation.
The role of the pathologist and the core vocabulary of disease, showing how a specimen becomes a diagnosis that guides treatment.
High-yield lines
- Etiology is the cause of a disease, while pathogenesis is the mechanism by which that cause produces the disease.
- Morphology refers to the structural gross and microscopic changes in tissue, and these changes underlie the clinical or functional manifestations.
- A definitive tissue diagnosis on biopsy or resection generally outranks clinical impression when the two disagree.
- The pathologist integrates gross appearance, microscopy, special stains, immunohistochemistry, and molecular tests into a single reportable diagnosis.
- Frozen section gives a rapid intraoperative answer but is less accurate than paraffin section, which remains the gold standard.
- A biopsy samples a lesion, a resection removes it with margins, cytology examines individual cells, and autopsy examines the whole body after death.
- Sensitivity and specificity describe how well a test detects disease and excludes disease respectively.
- Idiopathic means the cause is unknown, and iatrogenic means the disease was caused by medical intervention.
- Sequelae are the consequences that follow a disease, while a complication is a new problem arising during its course.
- Clinicopathological correlation means the tissue findings are interpreted alongside the clinical history rather than in isolation.
- Incidence measures new cases over time, whereas prevalence measures total existing cases at a point in time.
- A pathology report should state the specimen, the diagnosis, the extent, and any prognostic or predictive markers relevant to management.
Mapped competency codes
- PA1.1
- PA1.2
Continue into the full chapter
This summary maps to PA1-introduction-to-pathology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between etiology and pathogenesis?
Etiology is the underlying cause of a disease; pathogenesis is the sequence of events through which that cause leads to the structural and functional changes of the disease.
Which is more reliable when clinical impression and biopsy disagree?
A well-sampled tissue biopsy interpreted with clinical context usually provides the definitive diagnosis, since morphology gives direct evidence of the disease process.
How do biopsy, cytology, resection and autopsy differ?
Biopsy samples part of a lesion, cytology examines dispersed cells, resection removes the lesion with margins for staging, and autopsy examines organs postmortem to establish cause of death.
What does iatrogenic mean?
Iatrogenic disease is illness caused by a medical or surgical intervention, drug, or procedure rather than by the underlying condition itself.
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