Common artifacts and remedies in histopathology (a review)

The essence of preparing a biological specimen for microscopic studies is to get adequate and accurate medical information that is a true representation of the specimen, be it for research or diagnostic purposes. An artifact can be defined as unrelated, self-colored artificial feature found in tissue sections. This has been an age long cause of misinterpretation leading to misdiagnosis to microscopists. The processing of specimen for medical information is subject to a procedure that results in a tissue fit for diagnosis and interpretation. The procedures themselves are subject to human and material errors and the result is an artifact that in the least may interfere with adequate diagnosis or at the most render the tissue so distorted as to be undiagnosable. The need to recognize these artifacts and attempt to overcome them is the single biggest challenge in the histopathology Laboratory. This article focused on identifying artifacts and their potential cause so that misinterpretation and difficulty in diagnosis can be overcome, and help microscopist to come into definite diagnosis.