Anatomic Pathology

Anatomical pathology includes the examination of tissue grossly and microscopically. Tissues can be sampled at post mortem examination or during surgical procedures on live animals. The samples are placed in formalin for tissue fixation prior to sending to the laboratory.

After processing and staining, microscopic examination of the tissue allows the identification of abnormal changes within the tissue and classifications into processes such as inflammation, neoplasia, malformation etc. Special stains, which includes immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical staining, can aid in this diagnostic process.

Tissues taken from a live animal are referred to as biopsies. They may be incisional (only part of the affected tissue is removed), or excisional (all visually affected tissue is removed). Biopsy evaluation includes an accurate identification of the process such as tumour type, grade, and completeness of the excision.

Post mortem examination may be required to diagnose the cause of death of an animal or accurately diagnose a disease condition(s). It usually requires a combination of gross examination post mortem followed by microscopic examination of multiple tissues. Other procedures may also be generated from the post mortem examination (eg. bacterial culture).

Our pathologists are eager to chat with the submitting veterinarian on cases before submission or discussion on the results report.

All these services are available at CityU VDL. For a complete description of the diagnostic services available, please refer to our test list.