Professional Practice in Biomedical Science – Histopathology

Fill-in-the-blank flashcards covering key definitions, procedures, stains, and clinical applications from the Histopathology lecture.

Histopathology is the diagnosis and study of diseases of the __, examined under a microscope.

tissues

One reason Histopathology is important is that it can identify cellular changes that explain a patient's __ or illness.

symptoms

The gold-standard fixative used in Histopathology is __ Buffered Formalin (10 % NBF).

Neutral

If tissue is not properly fixed, __ (breakdown by bacteria) and autolysis (breakdown by enzymes) can occur.

putrefaction

A small representative sample taken for initial diagnosis is called a __.

biopsy

Removal of all or part of an organ for treatment or cure is termed a __.

resection

Skin biopsies may be taken when a mole is irregular, changing colour, bleeding, itchy, or __.

nonsymmetrical

During a breast core biopsy, a thin core of tissue about __ mm long is removed.

3–15

Endoscopy biopsies use a thin tube with a camera passed through a natural opening to sample organs such as the __ (history of acid reflux).

oesophagus

In the lab’s Specimen Reception, every sample is assigned a unique __ number for tracking.

identifiable

Minimum Acceptance Criteria (MAC) require that patient name, hospital number, and __ all match between pot and request form.

date of birth (DOB)

During tissue dissection, three-dimensional measurements of the whole sample (e.g., 15 × 10 × 5 mm) and tissue __ are noted.

weight

In tissue processing, dehydration removes water using increasing percentages of __.

alcohol

Xylene is used in the clearing step to remove all traces of __ from the tissue.

water

Impregnation fills tissue spaces with molten __ to provide support for sectioning.

wax

Thin tissue sections are cut on a microtome at __ µm thickness.

3–4

Sections are floated on a heated __ bath to remove creases before mounting on slides.

water

The routine 'gold standard' stain in Histopathology is __ & Eosin (H&E).

Haematoxylin

Haematoxylin stains cell nuclei __-black.

blue

Eosin stains cytoplasm varying shades of __.

pink

H&E is a __ stain, meaning tissue is first overstained then differentiated to optimal intensity.

regressive

Ancillary testing should be interpreted together with the initial __ section, not in isolation.

H&E

Special stains such as Congo Red are used to detect __ deposits in amyloidosis.

amyloid

Perls Prussian Blue demonstrates iron-rich __ deposits indicating old blood.

hemosiderin

Methenamine Silver stain highlights the __ membrane of glomeruli in renal biopsies.

basement

Giemsa stain is useful for detecting __ pylori organisms in gastric biopsies.

Helicobacter

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) uses antibodies tagged with enzymes such as DAB to visualise antigens as a __/black reaction.

brown

IHC can distinguish normal from malignant cells, grade tumours, and identify __ tumour spread.

metastatic

The breast IHC panel commonly includes __ (ER), PR, and Her2 antibodies.

oestrogen receptor

Blocking ER with hormone therapy such as __ can reduce tumour growth.

Tamoxifen

Herceptin is a targeted therapy that blocks the __ receptor on tumour cells.

Her2

Triple-negative breast cancer (ER-, PR-, Her2-) has the __ prognosis among the subtypes.

worst

The largest Histopathology lab in Northern Ireland processes about __ samples per year.

65,000

Key non-laboratory staff in Histopathology include administrative and __ personnel.

clerical

Electron Microscopy provides resolution about __ times greater than light microscopy.

1000