An Overview of Pathology in Mortuary Science: Key Branches Explored

This essay provides an overview of pathology from the perspective of mortuary science, focusing on defining and differentiating key terms such as gross pathology, histopathology, general pathology, special pathology, clinical pathology, physiological pathology, and forensic pathology. It highlights that gross pathology involves macroscopic examination of tissues, while histopathology uses microscopy for detailed analysis. The essay also explains the etymology of terms like 'histo,' 'path,' 'ology,' and 'physio' to enhance understanding. The common thread among these branches is their involvement in clinical analysis of tissues and autopsies to determine causes, development, and structural alterations, with differences lying in the methods and objectives of observation. Desklib offers a platform for students to access this document and many other solved assignments for their academic needs.

RUNNING HEAD: PATHOLOGY FROM MORTUARY SCIENCE 1
Pathology from Mortuary Science
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Pathology for Mortuary Science
Gross pathology
Gross pathology is a branch pathology that refers to the macroscopic appearance of
disease in different organs, tissues as well as body cavities. This terminology is commonly used
among the pathologists when examining part of the surgical specimen. The description usually
involve the size, site, the shape, presence or absence of a capsule, if the lesion is either
homogeneous or variegated, cystic and the presence of papillary projections (Kierszenbaum &
Tres, 2012). In simple terms, this is a branch of pathology that deals with reporting a diagnosis
that can be seen physically by the eyes.
Histopathology
Histopathology is a term of the Greek origin and is actually a component of three
different words. Histos which means tissues and then pathos that mean suffering. Finally it is
logia and it means study (Weinstein et al., 2017). In clinical medicine, this term is often used by
pathologists to describe the observation of already processed tissues which are placed on a glass
slide and examined through the microscope so as to find out the expression of diseases.
Gross pathology and Histopathology are same in the sense that all of them involve
examination of tissues. However, they are different in that gross pathology is the macroscopic
view while histopathology is microscopic where the microscope is used. Another difference is
that in histopathology, the specimen has been processed and placed on the slide while in gross
pathology there is no processing yet.

General pathology
General pathology in the field of medicine refers to the analysis of clinical deformities to
establish the cause, modes of development, structural alterations of the cells and the impact or
consequences of the change.
Special pathology
Basis of the involved sample and the focus of the examination for example forensic
pathology examines the cause of death.
Clinical pathology
Clinical pathology is the diagnosis of a particular disease based on laboratory results
from different specimens like body fluids, blood and tissue extracts. This is usually achieved
through the use of tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology and finally molecular
pathology.
Physiological pathology
Physiological pathology is also a sub-branch of the general pathology that deals with the
examination of functional damages that result from the diseases or disease processes.
Forensic pathology
Is a branch of general pathology that deals with investigation on the possible causes of
death and this is usually done through the post mortem examination of autopsies that are
extracted from the corpse.

From the definition of the terms, they have a common similarity which is they both
involve clinical analysis or observation of autopsies to find out the cause, development,
structural alterations of the cells and the consequences of the particular changes. The differences
are however, on how the observation is done and the objective of the observation. For example
forensic pathology is the examination of autopsies to find out the cause of death
Meaning of different terms
According to the Tabers Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, the term histo is prefix that
refers to different tissues. Path on the other hand is also a prefix of the Greek origin and it is used
to imply suffering from or disease (Von Menchhofen et al., 2016). Ology in the medical
dictionary is used to mean the study of something. Finally, the term physio is used to denote
nature or something natural.

References
Kierszenbaum, A. L., & Tres, L. L. (2012). PREFACE. Histology and Cell Biology: An
Introduction to Pathology, vii. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-07842-9.50004-6
Von Menchhofen, Z., McGarvey, D., Reinhart, S., Atwater, D., Alvarez, M. M., Baloch, Z.,
& LiVolsi, V. (2016). Pathology Science Education as Outreach to the General
Community at Large. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 146(suppl_1).
doi:10.1093/ajcp/aqw158.001
Weinstein, R. S., Waer, A. L., Weinstein, J. B., Briehl, M. M., Holcomb, M. J., Erps, K. A.,
… Krupinski, E. A. (2017). Second Flexner Century: The Democratization of
Medical Knowledge. Academic Pathology, 4, 237428951771887.
doi:10.1177/2374289517718872