By

• Shameem Shariff, MBBS, MD (Pathology), PhD (Pathology), Professor of Pathology, MVJ Medical College and Research Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Surgical Pathology is a vital aspect of pathology which determines patient treatment and well-being. The pathologist’s contribution to patient welfare cannot be more aptly emphasized than by the responsibility of giving accurate, precise and comprehensive reports. By comprehensive is not meant voluminous reports but reports which contain precise data which aid patient management. We are presently in an era of molecular pathology with giant strides being made towards genomic typing of tumors; yet treatment in most hospitals including tertiary care hospitals is decided on the conventional histopathology reporting and this will I believe prevail for the next couple of decades. It becomes mandatory that specimen handling, grossing, and microscopic reporting of slides be as standardized as possible in order to send out precise and accurate reports from any histopathology laboratory. The section on grossing outlines step by step how a specimen is to be handled in the laboratory. With several diagrams it helps the pathologist to systematically examine, cut through the specimen along the optimal planes and take representative bits for section. Gross Pathology and descriptions are mainly to aid the pathologist in correlating the naked eye appearances of specimens with varied pathological appearances as against their normal morphology. Microscopy: What the mind does not know the eyes cannot see holds very true for histologic reporting. A thorough knowledge of the microscopic findings in various pathologic lesions goes a long way in the correct interpretation of disease. The section on Microscopy: Aids in Diagnosis gives the salient features and points of differentiation between lesions with similar microscopic morphology. Delivering goods: The ultimate beneficiary of all our efforts is the patient and to convey meaningful histopathology reports it becomes mandatory to lay down criteria in histopathologic reporting. Core information for proper treatment and management should be conveyed to the treating physician. The last section Synoptic histopathology reporting and minimum Data Sets outlines the responsibilities of a reporting pathologist in conveying to the clinician all relevant data for patient management.