BIOPSY

[Drsumitra]

 ). Freezing during transport should also be avoided, since
cytoplasmic condensation has been described, secondary to
cell dehydration as a result of freezing. Interstitial vacuoles
form, together with vacuoles within the cell cytoplasm, due
to ice crystal formation (22).
Ficarra et al. (21) recommended the following protocol
to avoid possible artifacts during the surgical procedure:
Firstly, good clinical judgment is required for selecting
the best area for biopsy. Sufficient tissue must then be obtained with care, avoiding sample compression or traction.
The sample thus obtained must be fixed immediately. The
fixation bottle must be labeled with water-proof tape, and
using a pencil for writing. Each specimen is to be placed in
a separate bottle or container, with due identification of the
different zones involved.
Posteriorly, the pathology laboratory will issue a report,
identifying the material and providing details (macroscopic
identification), a description of the study made, the final
histopathological diagnosis, and other comments (3).
The pathologist thus may prepare the report in three different ways: certainty diagnosis, incompatibility diagnosis,
or orientative diagnosis.
The certainty diagnosis is a true histopathological diagnosis.
This diagnosis is stated when the findings are pathognomonic of a given type of lesion. If possible, tumor disease
should specify tumor extension to the resection margins,
including depth and infiltration, and the histological malignancy grade.
On the other hand, a diagnostic incompatibility report
is issued when no lesions typical of a given disease entity
have been observed. In these situations we must check that
sampling and processing have been correct in both amount
and location. In some cases there may be a previous test
yielding a negative diagnosis, and the biopsy specimen in
these cases serves to check the possible presence of positive
lesions (24).
In contrast, the diagnosis in some cases is merely orientativeand must be interpreted in close correlation to the clinical
data and the findings of other complementary tests. In such
cases the diagnosis is said to be compatible or suggestive of
a concrete disease entity.
Finally, in some cases the pathologist is unable to draw any
conclusions, and the resulting report is of a merely descriptive nature (1