Public database

Click here to go directly to Palga’s public database

About the public database

In the Netherlands, all pathology results are digitally archived in the Automated National Pathological Anatomy Archive (Palga). The archive was founded in 1971 and achieved nationwide coverage in 1991. This means that every pathology lab in the Netherlands is connected to the national infrastructure. Each year, the pathology labs generate over 2 million new test results for cytology (and population cytology), histology and autopsies. The database, which is unique both in terms of its size and of the nationwide cooperation involved, contains almost all excerpts from over 12 million patients.

Two national databases

Palga’s infrastructure consists of a decentralised database managed by the pathology labs, a national database for patient care and a national database for scientific research and quality of care. Using an automated procedure, the labs submit their pathology results to the two national databases each day to keep them up to date.

Scientific research

Palga’s public database contains data from the scientific research database. It is intended as a guide for researchers who want to use Palga’s national database. Before you submit a national request, it is sometimes useful to first check what type of material – and how much of it – is available in the Netherlands. You can use Palga’s public database to quickly get an impression of whether the national database is a suitable source for your research. The information in the database is completely anonymous and cannot be traced to individual patients.

Quick and easy

You can use diagnostic and retrieval terms to search for a specific diagnosis in Palga’s public database. A retrieval term is a collection of different terms that belong together. Using retrieval terms allows you to quickly search for all malignancies, for instance, or to see every skin topography in the database. You can also search by tissue, cell type, gender, age group and year of diagnosis. Searches in Palga’s public database will only produce metadata.

A search manual for the public database is available here.

Go directly to Palga's public database

Did you not find what you were looking for? Or would you like to request the full excerpts, anonymized pathology reports, or pathology material for the excerpts you found? Please contact the advisors of the Palga Foundation at 088 04 02 700 or aanvraag@palga.nl, we are happy to assist you with your search query.

The Palga PUBLIC DATABASE is made possible in part by BBMRI-NL / DNTP