Cytopathology

Cytopathology (from Greek κύτος, kytos, "a hollow";^[1] πάθος, pathos, "fate, harm"; and -λογία, -logia) is a branch of pathology that studies and diagnoses diseases on the cellular level. The discipline was founded by George Nicolas Papanicolaou in 1928. Cytopathology is generally used on samples of free cells or tissue fragments, in contrast to histopathology, which studies whole tissues. Cytopathology is frequently, less precisely, called "cytology", which means "the study of cells".^[2]

Cytopathology is commonly used to investigate diseases involving a wide range of body sites, often to aid in the diagnosis of cancer but also in the diagnosis of some infectious diseases and other inflammatory conditions.^[3] For example, a common application of cytopathology is the Pap smear, a screening tool used to detect precancerous cervical lesions that may lead to cervical cancer.

Cytopathologic tests are sometimes called smear tests because the samples may be smeared across a glass microscope slide^[4] for subsequent staining and microscopic examination. However, cytology samples may be prepared in other ways, including cytocentrifugation. Different types of smear tests may also be used for cancer diagnosis. In this sense, it is termed a cytologic smear.^[5]

^ Kirkpatrick; et al. (1989). The Cassell Concise English Dictionary. London. p. 324. ISBN 0-304-31806-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "Cytology". Collection development manual of the National Library of Medicine (4th ed.). Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2004. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
^ "Cytopathology Specialty Description". American Medical Association. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
^ Stedman's medical dictionary (27th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. ISBN 978-0683400076.
^ Chapter 13, section of squamous cell carcinomas, in Mitchell, Richard Sheppard; Kumar, Vinay; Abbas, Abul K.; Fausto, Nelson (2007). Robbins Basic Pathology (8th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders. ISBN 978-1-4160-2973-1.

[1] Kirkpatrick; et al. (1989). The Cassell Concise English Dictionary. London. p. 324. ISBN 0-304-31806-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[2] "Cytology". Collection development manual of the National Library of Medicine (4th ed.). Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2004. Archived from the original on 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2018-03-21.

[3] "Cytopathology Specialty Description". American Medical Association. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

[Stedman's_medical_dictionary-4] Stedman's medical dictionary (27th ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. ISBN 978-0683400076.

[Kumar13-5] Chapter 13, section of squamous cell carcinomas, in Mitchell, Richard Sheppard; Kumar, Vinay; Abbas, Abul K.; Fausto, Nelson (2007). Robbins Basic Pathology (8th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders. ISBN 978-1-4160-2973-1.

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