Surgical Pathology: A Practical Guide for Non-Pathologist

144 Pages·2021·11.743 MB·English

by  Ahmad Altaleb

Surgical Pathology
A Practical Guide for
Non-Pathologist
Ahmad Altaleb
Editor
123
Surgical Pathology
Ahmad Altaleb
Editor
Surgical Pathology
A Practical Guide for Non-Pathologist
Editor
Ahmad Altaleb
Histopathology Department
Mubarak Alkabeer Hospital
Jabriya
Kuwait
ISBN 978-3-030-53689-3 ISBN 978-3-030-53690-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53690-9
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
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Images are among the strongest stimuli to the
imagination. This is why microscopic obser-
vations have been so fertile in biomedical sci-
ence. Surgical pathologists spend a great part
of their lives peering through a microscope,
which activity may be called “diagnostic rec-
ognition.” They try to match the image of what
they see with a preexisting image stored, along
with a huge number of others, in the memory
Frank González-Crussí, MD.
González-Crussí F.  A quick sketch of the
surgical pathologist, from nature. Semin
Diagn Pathol. 2008;25(3):130–5.
This work is dedicated with great
appreciation to my parents, wife, children,
and to my country Kuwait.
Foreword
To the public and even the health-care professionals, pathology is like a black box
where specimen went in and reports come out in a few days. Nobody knows what
happened in the black box and people only care when the report delayed or when
the error occurred. Physicians and surgeons often puzzled with some of the terms
used in the report. What cribriform, basaloid, alveolar, hobnail, and herringbone
mean to the patient? Why does error occur in pathology? The old proverb says,
“Difference in profession makes one feel worlds apart.” The intention of this
Notebook of Surgical Pathology is to open that black box and bridge that knowledge
gap between pathology and other health-care professions.
This book represents a joint effort of education leaders in both pathology and
surgery. It covers a wide range of topics from describing the technical process of
pathology and the commonly used terms in pathology reports to explaining the limi-
tations of the pathology as a subjective specialty and different stages of specimen
handling and processing that could cause error in the final diagnosis. I am particu-
larly impressed with the figures and diagrams that help the authors to explain a
complicated process in a visual, simplistic way. In my opinion, this book will be an
excellent reference not only for practicing physicians but also, probably more
importantly, for medical students and first-year pathology residents to gain a quick
understanding of the basics of pathology laboratory.
I applaud the efforts made by the authors and the novel concept of this book. I
look forward to seeing the final print in the medical literature.
Zu-hua Gao
Department of Pathology
McGill University Faculty of Medicine
Montreal, QC, Canada
April 5, 2020
ix
Preface
This book makes no claims to be a textbook of surgical pathology as many aspects
of this specialty are not included. It is rather a collection of summaries in the form
of infographics/mind maps and illustrations, in an attempt to simplify major con-
cepts of surgical pathology through high-yield fact pages designed for the busy
surgeon and health-care professionals. To achieve this goal, it was deliberate to
reduce the text and rely more on visual representations in order to communicate
information and knowledge “at glance.”
The idea to prepare this work evolved from my observations over the years. I
have noticed that the vast majority of surgical colleagues including trainees or resi-
dents have no clue about the pathologists’ task and the practical aspects inside the
pathology laboratory.
Focusing solely on the aforementioned issue, I decided to abandon discussing
pathologic entities and histologic features of diseases, as these can be learned from
major textbooks like Rosai and Ackerman’s or Sternberg’s Diagnostic Surgical
Pathology.
So, the main purpose of this book is to provide a succinct background of practi-
cal surgical pathology, its important terminology, concepts, and some technical
aspects. It is also intended to bridge the gaps between pathology and surgery as well
as other health-care professionals.
I hope you enjoy this book and find it very useful in your practice.
Kuwait Ahmad Altaleb
xi
Acknowledgments
I owe a great debt to many individuals for their inspiration and support.
I acknowledge my outstanding pathologist, teacher, and colleague, Dr. Issam
Francis, who inspired me during my training and was a source of consistent motiva-
tion to learn pathology. I am grateful to Dr. Sundus Hussein, my previous pathology
program director, for her continuous support and encouragement. Also, I would like
to thank all senior and junior pathologists who helped me one day to learn pathology.
It is important to acknowledge the assistance of Springer Nature associate editor
Mr. Wyndham Hacket Pain for his most helpful assistance from the first contact
with him, and all Springer Nature staff who were very cooperative and available
whenever needed.
xiii
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 The Role of Surgical Pathologist: A Surgeon’s Perspective . . . . . . . . . 3
Eisa Lari, Ali Lari, and Khaled Alyaqout
2 Histopathology Versus Cytopathology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Esperança Ussene
Part II T he Surgical Pathology Report
3 The Surgical Pathology Request Form,
What Is Mandatory To Fill-In? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Esperança Ussene
4 The Surgical Pathology Report Simplified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
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5 Clarifying Jargon in Pathology Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Ahmad Altaleb and Nicolas Kozakowski
Part III The Journey of Specimens
6 The Journey of Specimens: From the Operating
Table to the Microscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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7 At the Grossing Station: Principles of Specimen
Handling and Cut-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Ahmad Altaleb
8 Basics of Tissue Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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9 A Primer on Gross Pathology Examination and
Selected Images of Gross Specimens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
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