Brief Introduction:
The department of Histopathology and Cytopathology at Sakra World hospital has facilities for reporting surgical pathology including frozen sections & immunohistochemistry for oncology cases; cytopathology including FNACs, fluid cytology and exfoliative cytology. It is NABL accredited laboratory well-equipped with instruments of latest technology.
The team of expert histopathologists and cytopathologists comprises of Dr. Nandita Ghosal, Dr. Pallavi Rao and Dr. Shrruti K Grover with a well trained technical staff.
Our pathologists have dedicated training, interests and vast experience in Neuropathology, hepatobiliary and Gastrointestinal tract and Oncopathology.
Facilities:
Surgical pathology:
Grossing and reporting small diagnostic biopsies to large complex radical oncology specimens. The hospital has started a new liver transplant program and the department has trained pathologists to handle donor biopsies, explant specimens & post transplant liver biopsies.
Neuropathology being a super- specialized subspeciality of histopathology needs high degree of proficiency, not only for diagnosis, but also for prognostication as many of these patient’s need adjuvant therapy post surgery. Dr. Nandita Ghosal has more than 17 years of experience exclusively in neuropathology, in particular neuro- oncopathology and has diagnosed more than 12000 cases including brain, spinal cord and spine.
Common cases in neuropathology spectrum include meningioma, schwannoma & gliomas of varying grades. Unusual ones we have reported include C19MC- altered embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes, epithelioid variant of glioblastoma multiforme, rosette forming glioneuronal tumor, papillary tumor of the pineal region, phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor, Dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor, tumefactive demyelinating lesion, spinal paraganglioma , etc.
Pathology of Hepatopancreaticobiliary and Gastrointestinal tract requires expertise for identification of the pattern of injury and hence guide the clinician towards the right aetiology of the disease, essential for patient management. Dr. Pallavi Rao and Dr. Shrruti Grover have special interest and dedicated training in the respective field. We work as a team & discuss the challenging cases with the GI clinicians which aids in reaching correct diagnosis.
Common cases in hepatobiliary & GI histopathology include mostly endoscopic GI biopsies from Inflammatory bowel diseases, infective colitis, SRUS, GI polyps, small bowel disorders like coeliac disease, parasitic infestations, eosinophilic enteritis, gastritis and esophagitis of various aetiologies, Barrett’s oesophagus and neoplastic etiologies. The unusual spectrum in GIT includes Igg4 related disorders, CVID, IPSID of small bowel rare parasites like isospora, and many more. Malignancies of GI & HPB tract are a fairly common resection specimen.
We are competent to handle liver biopsies for medical causes like NASH, ASH, autoimmune disorders, viral hepatitis, biliary diseases, drug induced liver injuries, metabolic liver diseases & storage disorders.
Diagnostic biopsies and resection specimens from other sites like skin, head and neck, lymph nodes, mediastinum, lung, omentum, breast, male and female genitourinary tract, bone and soft tissue constitute rest of the work load.
Frozen section:
Intraoperative frozen section reporting is a routinely performed test for oncology cases.
Histo chemical stains & Immunohistochemistry:
The lab currently has 60 IHC markers and is in the process of expanding the panel to keep abreast with the evolving field of oncology & precision medicine. We have panel of the required histo chemical stains which aids in routine diagnosis.
Cytopathology:
Fine needle aspiration cytology:
Routinely done for palpable lesions with facility of Ultrasound/CT guided FNACs of non palpable lesions.
ROSE: Rapid on site evaluation of Endoscopic Ultrasound guided FNAC
Is also a routine practice in our institute where a team of pathologist and cytotechnician visits the site of EUS-FNAC with a microscope and rapid staining kit. The slides are quickly stained and assessed to ensure adequacy of material for diagnosis. This enhances the yield of such samples reducing the frequency of non diagnostic FNACs, as these are highly invasive procedures.
Fluid cytology with cell block:
Pleural, Pericardial, Ascitic, BAL fluid, CSF
Liquid Based Cytology(LBC):
Cervical screening has been shown to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer. Conventional PAP smear is an older method of screening, while Liquid Based Cytology is the latest and advanced way of testing for the same. LBC samples offer better quality, clarity, a uniform spread of smears, and less chances of smears being inadequate for diagnosis.
Overall LBC offers better evaluation and detection of abnormalities. Also testing for HPV and cytology are possible from one smear.
Sakra laboratory is one of the very few hospitals in Bangalore using LBC for screening of cervical cancer.
Academic activites:
Monthly journal clubs & clinicopathological meets with GI department are some regular academic activities department is actively engaged in.