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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #330769
Research Project: Health Management, Disease Prevention and Control Strategies in Catfish Aquaculture

Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit

Title: Nonlesions, misdiagnoses, missed diagnoses, and other interpretive challenges in fish histopathology studies-A guide for investigators, authors, reviewers, and readers

Author
item WOLF, JEFFERY - Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc
item BAUMGARTNER, WES - Mississippi State University
item BLAZER, VICKI - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item CAMUS, ALVIN - University Of Georgia
item ENGLHARDT, JEFFERY - Experimental Pathology Laboratories, Inc
item FOURNIE, JOHN - Us Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
item FRASCA, SALAVATORE JR - University Of Connecticut
item GROMAN, DAVID - University Of Prince Edward Island
item KENT, MICHAEL - Oregon State University
item KHOO, LESTER - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Toxicologic Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/27/2014
Publication Date: 4/21/2015
Citation: Wolf, J.C., Baumgartner, W.A., Blazer, V.S., Camus, A.C., Englhardt, J.A., Fournie, J.W., Frasca, S., Groman, D.B., Kent, M.K., Khoo, L.H. 2015. Nonlesions, misdiagnoses, missed diagnoses, and other interpretive challenges in fish histopathology studies-A guide for investigators, authors, reviewers, and readers. Toxicologic Pathology. 43(3):297-325.

Interpretive Summary: Paper gives examples of how to differentiate between histopathologic changes from normal anatomic features or tissue artifacts which are often misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed.

Technical Abstract: Differentiating salient histopathologic changes from normal anatomic features or tissue artifacts can be decidedly challenging, especially for the novice fish pathologist. As a consequence, findings of questionable accuracy may be reported inadvertently, and the potential negative impacts of publishing inaccurate histopathologic interpretations are not always fully appreciated. The objectives of this article are to illustrate a number of specific morphologic findings in commonly examined fish tissues (e.g., gills, liver, kidney, and gonads) that are frequently either misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed, and to address related issues involving the interpretation of histopathologic data. To enhance the utility of this article as a guide, photomicrographs of normal and abnormal specimens are presented. General recommendations for generating and publishing results from histopathology studies are additionally provided. It is hoped that the furnished information will be a useful resource for manuscript generation, by helping authors, reviewers, and readers to critically assess fish histopathologic data.