ABSTRACT
Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease. It is central to the whole practice of evidence-based medicine. Arguably, anyone who studies the mechanisms of a disease can be described as a pathologist, but traditionally the term is applied to those with day-to-day involvement in providing a diagnostic service to a hospital or undertaking research in a pathology department. Histopathology sets great store on making the correct diagnosis and gleaning information that is useful in determining treatment options and the probable clinical outcome. Unlike histopathology, where assessment of the tissue architecture is of prime importance, in cytopathology the characteristics of the individual cells are of most value. Establishment of a robust, updated, scientific evidence base for postmortem pathology remains a challenge. Virchow might be familiar with the workings of a twentieth-century pathology department; it is doubtful if he would be as familiar with the evolving pathology department of the twenty-first century.
