Syntactic structure analysis.

Syntactic structure analysis is a relatively new technique in diagnostic quantitative pathology that, based on the graph theory, can provide quantitative information on tissue architecture. This article gives an introduction to syntactic structure analysis and discusses the potential of syntactic structure analysis in diagnostic quantitative pathology. In addition, some examples of its application in histo- and cytopathology are presented and it is speculated which other applications the user of syntactic structure may find for quantitation of architecture in diagnostic quantitative pathology.