Other tests are performed to make a definite diagnosis, usually when you have symptoms of diseases. Such tests include cardiac enzymes that would be performed if you were having chest pain and the doctor suspected you were having a heart attack. Another type of diagnostic test is the biopsy. In this case, tissue is sent to the pathology laboratory so that the pathologist can examine it under a microscope and give your doctor a definite diagnosis. If the biopsy shows a malignant tumor, the pathologist will tell your doctor exactly what type of cancer is present.
Pathologists are medical doctors who treat patients through laboratory medicine.
They are experts in the use of laboratory tests to diagnose and treat disease. Pathologists, as the directors of medical laboratories, are responsible for the sophisticated laboratory tests on samples of tissues or fluids including the quality and accuracy of the results. Although you may not meet the pathologist, he or she assists your doctor in determining what medical problems you have and how they best can be treated. The diagnosis of disease by studying body tissues, often obtained by office biopsy, during surgery, or by a Pap smear. Specially trained in this specialty, the anatomic pathologist who examines your specimen will issue a written report of his or her diagnosis to your doctor.