Gross examination

Gross examination of a kidney (right of image) with a renal oncocytoma (left of image).

Gross examination or "grossing" is the process by which pathology specimens are inspected with the bare eye to obtain diagnostic information, while being processed for further microscopic examination.

Gross examination of surgical specimens is typically performed by a pathologist, or by a pathologists' assistant working within a pathology practice. Individuals trained in these fields are often able to gather diagnostically critical information in this stage of processing, including the stage and margin status of surgically removed tumors.

The initial step in any examination of a clinical specimen is confirmation of the identity of the patient and the anatomical site from which the specimen was obtained. Sufficient clinical data should be communicated by the clinical team to the pathology team in order to guide the appropriate diagnostic examination and interpretation of the specimen - if such information is not provided, it must be obtained by the examiner prior to processing the specimen.

Items used for submitting specimens: (Biopsy) wrap, (biopsy) sponge, (tissue processing) cassette and (biopsy) bag.

There are usually two end products of the gross examination of a surgical specimen. The first is the gross description, a document which serves as the written record of the examiner's findings, and is included in the final pathology report. The second product is a set of tissue blocks, typically postage stamp-sized portions of tissue sealed in plastic cassettes, which will be processed into slides for microscopic examination. Since only a minority of the tissue from a large specimen can reasonably be subject to microscopic examination, the success of the final histological diagnosis is highly dependent on the skill of the professional performing the gross examination. The gross examiner may sample portions of the specimen for other types of ancillary tests as diagnostically indicated; these include microbiological culture, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, or electron microscopy.

## See also

* Timeline of myocardial infarction pathology, including gross examination findings

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Pathology

Principles of pathology|

* Disease
* Infection
* Neoplasia
* Cause
* Pathogenesis
* Hemodynamics
* Ischemia
* Inflammation
* Cell damage
* Wound healing

Cellular adaptation

Atrophy
Hypertrophy
Hyperplasia
Dysplasia
Metaplasia

Squamous
Glandular

Cell death

Necrosis

Coagulative necrosis
Liquefactive necrosis
Gangrenous necrosis
Caseous necrosis
Fat necrosis
Fibrinoid necrosis
Myocytolysis
Programmed cell death

Apoptosis
Pyknosis
Karyorrhexis
Karyolysis

Accumulations
pigment

Hemosiderin
Lipochrome/Lipofuscin
Melanin
Steatosis

Anatomical pathology|

* Surgical pathology
* Cytopathology
* Autopsy
* Molecular pathology
* Forensic pathology
* Oral and maxillofacial pathology

* Gross examination
* Histopathology
* Immunohistochemistry
* Electron microscopy
* Immunofluorescence
* Fluorescence in situ hybridization

Clinical pathology|

* Clinical chemistry
* Hematopathology
* Transfusion medicine
* Medical microbiology
* Diagnostic immunology
* Immunopathology

* Enzyme assay
* Mass spectrometry
* Chromatography
* Flow cytometry
* Blood bank
* Microbiological culture
* Serology

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