Has there been an information explosion in histopathology?

The numbers of papers published between 1966 and 1990 which could be of relevance to a histopathologist were assessed. The search for papers was conducted under 18 medical subject headings using the CD-Plus Medline computerised database for the years 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986 and 1990. Between 1966 and 1990 16 categories showed an increase in the number of indexed papers and in 11 of these the increase was by over 200%. The two categories that showed a slight reduction were cytodiagnosis and polarisation microscopy. The total number of papers of probable relevance to histopathology in 1990 was 36,780, a 293% increase since 1966; this increase was greater than the increase in the total number of papers indexed (189%). The number of papers relevant to histopathology has increased dramatically in recent years and this increase has been proportionately greater than in some other areas of medicine.