A normal cell usually contains a single nucleus with a definitive relationship with the volume of the cytoplasm, but in some situations, cells might contain more than one nucleus sharing a common cytoplasm. The exceptions are skeletal muscle cells, cells of placenta, and bone cells which may contain more than one nucleus, a regular physiological character of these cells; any other cells exhibiting more than one nucleus or an abnormally large sized nucleus are termed as "giant cells". Giant cells are significantly found in some conditions such as reactive lesions, chronic inflammatory...

Artefacts are undesired alterations in a specimen and are introduced by a technique and/or environment. Routinely seen in histo-pathology, they often create problems in diagnosis of various diseases. Through this book, we have attempted to review the various type of artefacts a pathologist or a laboratory technician may encounter and also have tried to suggest the possible remedies to reduce the occurrence of the same.

Basement membranes are thin, extracellular matrices which separate the epithelia from their underlying connective tissue. Basement membrane has been viewed as a complex structure with its chemical composition varying, depending on the site of presentation. The principle constituents being collagenous proteins and non-collagenous substances like heparin sulphate proteoglycan, laminin, fibronectin, entactin or nidogen. By virtue of its anatomical location and highly complex composition, the basement membrane may have a key role in a wide range of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. Basement...