NEUROPATHOLOGY PROCEDURE MANUAL

Ophthalmic Pathology Coverage

A.

  1. Surgical eye specimens handled by Neuropath/Eye Service
    Conjunctival, corneal, and intraocular lesions and all enucleated eyes.
  2. Surgical eye specimens handled by Head and Neck Pathology
    Skin, eyelid, and orbital lesions, including most frozen sections, some conjunctival tumors.
  3. Surgical eye specimens handled by Dermatopathology
    Biopsy for immunofluorescence to rule out blistering diseases (pemphigus).
B. Outside Consultations
Outside enucleations, including those from the VA hospital are UP cases. Other tissues follow the general surgical pathology policies (e.g. slides and blocks are UP, wet tissues from UPMC system hospitals are not, everything from non-UPMC hospitals are UP) (Click here to view information on the Ophthalmic Pathology Consult Service).
C. Grossing
The PAs routinely gross all specimens, except enucleations and the conjunctival specimens in which the surgeon has given information on orientation, or cases that Dr. Chu has held for teaching purposes. For more information on grossing please click here.
D. Coverage when Dr. Chu is not available.
It is ABSOLUTELY essential that the cases are TRIAGED as they come in. The Service 2 NP fellow is responsible for identifying these cases, discussing them with the Presby NP attending, and following through to make sure they do not slip through the cracks. If there is no Service 2 fellow, the NP attending should be contacted.
Cases that need immediate attention include:
  • All suspected tumor cases from any site.
  • Rule out infection (usually cornea).
  • Any case in which the surgeon has written Rush or Expedite, or in which the clinicians call.
  • Specimens that have been mis-accessioned to Neuropath/Eye Service.

Frank Fusca or an experienced NP Fellow can gross eyeballs and orient conjunctival excisions in my absence.

UPMC Pathologists that can be helpful for eye cases: Drazen Jucic for pigmented lesions, Fiona Craig or Steven Swerdlow for hematopoietic processes, Uma Rao or Bob Peel for soft tissue tumors. Gordon Klintworth or Alan Proia at Duke University for the whole range of ophthalmic specimens.