Artifacts in biopsy and tissue processing - A review

Artifacts may occur either during biopsy or tissue processing procedures. They may result in an altered morphology, cytological features or even complete uselessness of the tissue. Hence, the clinicians, histopathologists and technicians should take adequate care to ensure that the tissue specimens are taken properly and processed correctly, in order to minimize the incorporation of any artifacts. In this article we intend to highlight and review the various types of artifacts, the circumstances that lead to their occurrence and the possible measures to prevent their incorporation.