Neuropathology
Both common and difficult lesions of the brain often bring the patient to the neurosurgeon for biopsy, and the tissue samples derived from such biopsies are often understandably quite small and challenging. The requirement of specialized training in neuropathology, as well as experience in diagnosis of difficult brain lesions or in lesions represented in only very small brain tissue samples, is met at the University of Florida Diagnostic Reference Laboratories.
Tumors of the central nervous system and adjacent structures account for a relatively small subset of the case material encountered in general surgical pathology. However, they frequently present diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for pathologists and clinicians, and among children, brain tumors are the second most common malignancy after the leukemias and lymphomas. The 2000 WHO classification of nervous system tumors currently lists about 125 named tumor types, and more recently, additional diagnostic entities with important clinical implications have emerged. The assessment of patient prognosis and evaluation of therapeutic efforts begins with an appropriate tissue diagnosis, which often requires specialized knowledge and experience in neuropathology.
Muscle Pathology
Disorders of both skeletal muscle and peripheral nerve commonly require tissue biopsy for diagnosis and both require special handling, which transcends the standard formalin fixation and paraffin processing sufficient for diagnosis in most organ systems. The utilization of enzyme histochemistry in skeletal muscle biopsies, for example, requires the rapid transport of unfixed biopsy tissue samples to an appropriately equipped and staffed reference laboratory, such as that at the University of Florida/Shands Hospital, for snap-frozen section enzyme histochemistry. Similarly, the evaluation of peripheral nerve biopsies requires special handling and glutaraldehyde fixation for the eventual osmication, plastic embedding, and electron microscopy required for diagnosis in the majority of cases. The necessary snapfrozen section and enzyme histochemistry techniques for muscle biopsies, as well as the plastic embedding and electron microscopy for nerve biopsies, are both available through the Diagnostic Reference Laboratories.
Test List
1p36/19q13 Fluorescence in situ hybridization (Yachnis, Anthony T., MD)
| Test Order Number: | 0295 | |
| Methodology: | FISH | |
| Specimen Requirements: | Formalin Fixed Paraffin embedded tissue | |
| Specimen Handling: | room temperature | |
| In-house turnaround time: | 9 days | |
| Reference Values: | Non deleted | |
| CPT Code: | 88365 x 4 |
Neuropathology, Muscle Pathology, General Info. (Anthony Yachnis, M.D.; Thomas Eskin, M.D.)
| Test Order Number: | ||
| Methodology: | Light microscopy, electron microscopy, special stains (conventional and immunohistochemitry). | |
| Specimen Requirements: | Tissues in appropriate fixative/preservative; pre-prepared slides and/or paraffin block. ***These specimens must be accompanied by x-rays.*** | |
| Specimen Handling: | ||
| In-house turnaround time: | 2 to 5 days | |
| Reference Values: | Interpretive report | |
| CPT Code: |