Dermatopathology meet held in Jipmer

According to a Jipmer release on Sunday, Jipmer Director S C Parija who inaugurated the national conference said, ‘’This is a unique conference of dermatologists and pathologists with a shared vision.’’ In today’s scenario where integration of disciplines is the key to successful health care, dermatopathology is a key example where coordination between two disciplines results in improved patient outcomes.

Organising Chairman Bhawana Ashok Badhe addressing the conference said dermatology from primarily being a clinical specialty has developed into multiple sub-specialties, one of them being dermatopathology. This specialty focuses on the study of cutaneous diseases at a microscopic and molecular level. Dermatologists are able to recognize most skin diseases based on their appearances, anatomic distributions, and behaviour.

Sometimes, however, those criteria do not allow a conclusive diagnosis to be made, and a skin biopsy is taken to be examined under the microscope or are subject to other molecular tests. Organising secretary Laxmi Chandrasekar Sha said, some of the problems in interpretation are due to poor or absent communication between the two disciplines. This conference attempted to bridge these two bringing them on the same platform and talking the same language.