Biopsies
This term comes from Greek and freely translated it means “a sight of life”. Today, biopsy is a test that consists in collecting a piece of tissue and its microscopic examination.
Biopsies are performed to determine the diagnosis, i.e. to determine what (for example an infection or tumour) and in what scope it damages the tissue.
Tissue samples are diagnosed at the Clinical and Transplant Pathology Centre. IKEM pathologists are specialists in liver biopsies, renal biopsies and myocardial biopsies.
The bioptic sample can be used to diagnose the type of damage (for example viral inflammation, liver injury by alcohol, renal injury due to diabetes) and also the percentage of active alterations that require different treatment than chronic alterations.
Furthermore, microscopic examination of biopsies can determine whether the given tissue is responding to the therapy. Moreover, biopsies of transplanted organs are currently the only method that can be used to recognise rejection of the transplanted tissue.