Happenings in histopathology - a post-World War II perspective

There have been several important developments in the practice of histopathology since World War II; those reviewed in this lecture are grouped under 4 headings: new techniques (cytopathology, electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology), organisational issues (recruitment, training and certification, subspecialties, quality control and consultations), ethical and legal issues (service costs, and the ownership and uses of biopsy tissues) and globalisation (international associations, standardised classification and nomenclature, and telepathology). Advances in the fields of molecular pathology and telepathology are expected to have the greatest impact on the practice of pathology in the next decade.