Division of Surgical Pathology

Surgical Pathology faculty and staff provides comprehensive diagnostic, teaching and research expertise for Southwestern Ontario, Canada and abroad. While managing one of Canada's heaviest caseloads, the faculty remains active in the academic mission of LHSC, St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Western University. The main offices and laboratory are located at the University Hospital with satellite facilities at both Victoria Hospital and St. Joseph's Health Care London. The service provides resident/graduate, undergraduate and clinical rotations for all levels of pathology personnel as well as a wide range of research.

It is composed of several main areas each with its own specialty:

Histology:

• Processes approximately 55,000 surgical tissue specimens each year
• The largest Departmental Division, it provides expertise in diagnosis and tissue analysis which impacts health care delivery, resident/graduate and undergraduate training and a wide range of research
• Oral Pathology - LHSC and UWO have long benefitted from one of the country's few Oral Pathology Divisions and Oral Pathology Training Programs. The Division has a leading reputation in clinical diagnosis, resident training, research and undergraduate teaching. The division sees an average of 5,000 specimens per year from local clinical resources as well as from Canadian and International consultations.
• Consultation Services - has a wide range of expertise, receiving a large volume of international and Canadian consultations on surgical and postmortem specimens

Immunohistochemistry:

• Accessing a test menu of greater than 200 antibodies
• Provides service for diagnostic cytology, surgical and autopsy specimens
• In addition, the laboratory plays important teaching and research roles for the hospital and university communities

Neuropathology:

• Neuropathology has a close working relationship with colleagues in the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences
• Neuropathology receives cytological, surgical and autopsy consultations from local, national and international sources
• With colleagues in CNS, it also provides a needle muscle biopsy service for LHSC which averages more than 100 outpatient percutaneous muscle biopsies per year for the investigation of a wide variety of neuromuscular disorders

Electron Microscopy:

• Major source of specimens are renal, transplant and neuropathology where ultrastructural assessment of tissue is frequently necessary for diagnosis
• Provides service for several regional hospitals and other Canadian centres as well as providing expertise in ultrastructural examinations for local researchers
• Average annual case load of over 600
• Partnership with UWO Biotron’s TEM scope since 2014

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