UPMC Dermatopathology

Dermatopathology is the study and reporting of changes in the skin that occur in skin disease. When any clinician identifies a lesion or “spot” on a patient’s skin that is irregular, a biopsy may be performed to understand what process is occurring. The Dermatopathologist will study the skin on a glass slide under the microscope and report their findings to the clinician for patient treatment. The UPMC Department of Dermatology has their own state-of-the-art dermatopathology laboratory, located in Pittsburgh, and our services are available to clinicians both within and outside of UPMC.

Services 

Services provided at our dermatopathology laboratory include:

• Routine H&E staining (hematoxylin and eosin)
• Immunohistochemistry to unmask and retrieve specific protein markers that assist in classification of disease processes, such as cancer
• Special stains to highlight chemical, biological, and pathological characteristics of specimens
• Direct immunofluorescence to label antibodies and antigens with fluorescent dyes to assist in pathological diagnosis.
• Digital imaging of pathology slides for archival, patient record, QA review, and publications

Access to ancillary laboratories within UPMC allow us to also offer molecular studies, FISH (fluorescent in situ), ISH, and EM (electron microscopy) services. 

We have also partnered with outside laboratories to offer highly specialized testing for rare cases, such as small fiber neuropathy. 

Our laboratory can also access specialized services through CASTLE for biomarker prediction of melanoma recurrence. 

Our Experts

• Jonhan Ho, MD
• Sonal Choudhary, MD
• Arivarasan Karunamurthy, MD

How To Access Our Services

Our services are not just available to dermatology providers. We encourage primary care practices and any other specialty services with the need to analyze skin samples to access our services.

Call 412-864-3860 and select Option 1 to be connected to our Administrative Assistant for further information or email us at Dermpathed@upmc.edu

For UPMC Providers:

We can quickly set up your office and practice staff with the tools and instructions needed to submit specimens to our laboratory. 

Electronic requisitions with a simple four-field-form fill will be easily accessible in EPIC once you are in our system. We will report our findings back to you in EPIC results in one single field. The patient visit note, specimen requisition, and pathology report will allow you to have a detailed picture of the patient specimen and diagnosis from end-to-end.

New users to our services will be provided a “starter” pack of specimen bottles and biopsy bags, along with information on how to order additional supplies in e-Pro. Preferential pricing on supplies is available through our system vendors. 

MedSpeed will courier your specimens to us and will provide all needed labels for tracking purposes. 

Working with our lab is an easy and smooth process, just complete the e-requisition, place the specimen in a pre-filled formalin bottle, place the bottle and specimen requisition in a pre-marked specimen bag, and send to our facility. 

For Non-UPMC Providers:

Our laboratory staff is experienced in helping to establish easy and effective systems for outside providers to send samples and access our services. To get started, we can schedule a phone call to speak to the practice manager or physician/owner to determine the best processes from specimen supplies needed, to transport, to reporting.