Artefacts: a diagnostic dilemma - a review.

The significance of proper handling of biopsy specimens is important and obvious for any histopathological diagnosis. Accuracy of tissue diagnosis by the pathologists is heavily dependent upon the competence of histotechnologists. The aim of a good histopathological technique is to produce microscopic preparation of tissues, usually stained, that represents as closely as possible, their structures in life. But this is not always possible and some sort of tissue morphology is bound to be seen. The ability of oral pathologists in interpreting a biopsy correctly is directly proportional not only to the quality, but also to the quantity of the specimen. There are many ways through which the exact interpretation of tissue specimen becomes compromised and the major pitfall is the presence of artefacts. These artefacts may occur during surgical removal, fixation, processing, embedding, microtomy and staining procedures. It is therefore important to identify the common occurring artefacts during interpretation of oral biopsies.