This work describes the basic elements of pathology used in clinical
practice. Pathology plays an important role in clinical and scientific work,
but only a few areas of pathology will be covered. Although the contribution
of oncological and surgical pathology to therapy is the most well known, the
cases chosen here will involve infectious pathology, diseases of the kidney
and the liver, autoimmune diseases, as well as organ transplantation.
Especially important is the description of methods that enable more accurate
morphological diagnoses, such as histochemistry, immunohistochemistry,
immunofluorescence, and electronic microscopy. Previous experience and joint
work with clinical doctors have enabled the definition of significant
morphological elements as well as of essential methods of pathohistological
diagnosis. Besides, as is often the case, although disease symptoms are
difficult to discern and biochemical results do not show significant changes
compared to normal values, the results of biopsy come as a surprise to
clinical doctors. For example, in virus hepatitis B involving socalled
asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, we discovered every morphological form of
hepatitis, from minimal lesions to chronic, persistent, and active hepatitis.
With hepatitis C, certain morphological lesions point to the etiopathogenesis
of this disease and thus help to confirm the diagnosis and to instigate
therapy on time. Another significant experience involves kidney biopsies in
cases when clinical findings are asymptomatic. Often, in such cases,
morphological findings point to glomerulonephritis and glomerulopathy at
different stages. Timely and subtle morphological diagnostics offer a more
precise explanation for the pathological injury of tissues than other
diagnostic methods. In this way, by adopting new methods, the work of
pathologists is included more and more in everyday clinical practice. The
inclusion of pathologists in a transplantation team makes sure a proper
selection of the organ for transplantation is carried out and ensures a
reliable evaluation of the condition of the transplanted organ, enabling
appropriate therapy. Autoimmune, hereditary diseases are almost impossible to
recognise unless a biopsy is performed as in the examples given. In this
work, the 30-year-long results of the cooperation between clinical doctors
and pathologists are presented and compared with similar results from modern
literature, together with numerous examples that represent significant
experiences and achievements of our medicine.
MEDICAL AND GENETIC CONSULTING IN THE CLINICAL PRACTICE OF AN ANDROLOGIST
