{"id":423,"date":"2021-06-23T14:38:31","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=423"},"modified":"2025-09-07T20:08:41","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T00:08:41","slug":"what-do-we-look-for-in-a-specimen","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/chapter\/what-do-we-look-for-in-a-specimen\/","title":{"raw":"How do we Look at a Pathology Specimen?","rendered":"How do we Look at a Pathology Specimen?"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nBy the end of this section, you will be able to:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Explain why preserved organs may look different in size and colour between in the body versus when on display.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>List the changes a pathologist looks for when examining an organ\/tissue.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Observations<\/h2>\r\nNow that we are ready to look at our specimen, what are we looking for?\r\n\r\n[h5p id=\"42\"]\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup>How to View Pathology Specimens by Jennifer Kong and Adrian Marcuzzi, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\" rel=\"license\">All Rights Reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2>Macroscopic Observation (Gross Specimens)<\/h2>\r\nRemember that we are looking to see how the specimen differs from normal. For gross specimens, the pathologist is looking for changes in:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Size:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is it larger? Indicating extra growth of either normal tissue or abnormal tissue<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is it smaller? Indicating cell death or destruction of tissue<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Shape:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Does it have the proper shape?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is it distorted in any way?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Colour*: (this is best evaluated before fixation)\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is there a change in colour in parts of the specimen that are unusual? This often happens with infection (white blood cells), tumours where the cells are different, and loss of certain tissues.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Texture:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is the specimen firmer than usual? Indicating perhaps extra fluid or perhaps a tumour or deposits of something that is normally not there<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is it squishier than usual? Usually a sign of tissue destruction<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Structure:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Is the structure what we expect?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Was it formed properly?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u00a0Has it been modified through the disease process?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n*Colour: The DHPLC specimens no longer retain their original colour due to fixation, oxidation and bleaching over time.\r\n<h2>Microscopic Observation<\/h2>\r\nRemember that tissue is normally clear, so we stain it to be able to distinguish the various parts of the tissue (e.g. H&amp;E stain). The colour and intensity of the stain gives us hints about the makeup of the cells that form the tissue.\r\n\r\nTo prepare for your video lesson on histology, we first need a primer on the tissue we are examining: epithelial tissue. <span style=\"color: #000000\">Epithelial tissue is made from tightly connected cells, forming a 'sheet,' covering all the surfaces exposed to the outside world OR lining the outside or inside of hollow organs. Epithelial tissue can be classified based on the shape of the outermost layer of cells (squamous, columnar, cuboidal, pseudostratified) and whether the sheet is a single layer (simple) or multiple layers (stratified). As skin is the most exposed layer, skin is an epithelial tissue. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\">Epithelial tissue is quite varied, based on their function and location within the body.\u00a0 <\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">For a deeper understanding, consider the following chapter - paying particular attention to their cellular makeup (i.e. with or without a gland), avascularity, and functions of epithelial tissue, as they provide the histological background for many of our video lessons on histology.<\/span>\r\n<h1 style=\"margin-top: 2.14286em;margin-bottom: 1.42857em\">Section Review<\/h1>\r\nTo get a hint of what is going wrong in the disease process, a pathologist can look at a block of tissue or whole organ for changes in size, shape, colour, texture, and structure. These changes can suggest underlying problems in cellular changes. Microscopic analysis of tissue is possible using thin slices that are stained to enable visibility of cellular organelles and cytosol.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Learning Objectives<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Explain why preserved organs may look different in size and colour between in the body versus when on display.<\/li>\n<li>List the changes a pathologist looks for when examining an organ\/tissue.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Observations<\/h2>\n<p>Now that we are ready to look at our specimen, what are we looking for?<\/p>\n<div id=\"h5p-42\">\n<div class=\"h5p-iframe-wrapper\"><iframe id=\"h5p-iframe-42\" class=\"h5p-iframe\" data-content-id=\"42\" style=\"height:1px\" src=\"about:blank\" frameBorder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"How to view the specimens\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;background-color: #f0f0f0;padding: 5px\"><sup>How to View Pathology Specimens by Jennifer Kong and Adrian Marcuzzi, licensed under <a href=\"https:\/\/choosealicense.com\/no-license\/\" rel=\"license\">All Rights Reserved<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<h2>Macroscopic Observation (Gross Specimens)<\/h2>\n<p>Remember that we are looking to see how the specimen differs from normal. For gross specimens, the pathologist is looking for changes in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Size:\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Is it larger? Indicating extra growth of either normal tissue or abnormal tissue<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Is it smaller? Indicating cell death or destruction of tissue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Shape:\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Does it have the proper shape?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Is it distorted in any way?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Colour*: (this is best evaluated before fixation)\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Is there a change in colour in parts of the specimen that are unusual? This often happens with infection (white blood cells), tumours where the cells are different, and loss of certain tissues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Texture:\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Is the specimen firmer than usual? Indicating perhaps extra fluid or perhaps a tumour or deposits of something that is normally not there<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Is it squishier than usual? Usually a sign of tissue destruction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Structure:\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0Is the structure what we expect?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Was it formed properly?<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Has it been modified through the disease process?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>*Colour: The DHPLC specimens no longer retain their original colour due to fixation, oxidation and bleaching over time.<\/p>\n<h2>Microscopic Observation<\/h2>\n<p>Remember that tissue is normally clear, so we stain it to be able to distinguish the various parts of the tissue (e.g. H&amp;E stain). The colour and intensity of the stain gives us hints about the makeup of the cells that form the tissue.<\/p>\n<p>To prepare for your video lesson on histology, we first need a primer on the tissue we are examining: epithelial tissue. <span style=\"color: #000000\">Epithelial tissue is made from tightly connected cells, forming a &#8216;sheet,&#8217; covering all the surfaces exposed to the outside world OR lining the outside or inside of hollow organs. Epithelial tissue can be classified based on the shape of the outermost layer of cells (squamous, columnar, cuboidal, pseudostratified) and whether the sheet is a single layer (simple) or multiple layers (stratified). As skin is the most exposed layer, skin is an epithelial tissue. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\">Epithelial tissue is quite varied, based on their function and location within the body.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">For a deeper understanding, consider the following chapter &#8211; paying particular attention to their cellular makeup (i.e. with or without a gland), avascularity, and functions of epithelial tissue, as they provide the histological background for many of our video lessons on histology.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"margin-top: 2.14286em;margin-bottom: 1.42857em\">Section Review<\/h1>\n<p>To get a hint of what is going wrong in the disease process, a pathologist can look at a block of tissue or whole organ for changes in size, shape, colour, texture, and structure. These changes can suggest underlying problems in cellular changes. Microscopic analysis of tissue is possible using thin slices that are stained to enable visibility of cellular organelles and cytosol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1264,"menu_order":5,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["helen-dyck"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[63],"license":[],"class_list":["post-423","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-helen-dyck"],"part":406,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1264"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9693,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/423\/revisions\/9693"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/406"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/423\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}