An understanding of the pathologic basis of neurologic diseases is essential for understanding both the clinical manifestations of the disease, as well as the potential treatment paradigms.

The focus of the neuropathology rotation is diagnostic aspects of neuropathology including surgical neuropathology , autopsy neuropathology, and neuromuscular pathology. In particular, clinical-pathologic correlations will be stressed. The resident will attend and participate in the weekly neurology/radiology/neurosurgery conference( Friday 9-10am).

In this one month elective, the resident will gain familiarity with both common and rare neuropathologic diseases, develop a solid foundation in morphologic diagnosis, and acquire an in depth understanding of the utility of ancillary techniques such as immunohistochemistry, molecular diagnostics, and electron microscopy.

The program is structured to meet this goal through exposure of the resident to an abundance of diversified case material, a commitment to medical teaching, state-of-the-art clinical laboratory facilities, and a graduated program of assigned responsibilities.

At the end of this rotation the resident should be able to identify normal and pathologic gross and microscopic anatomy, identify the findings in major neuropathologic diseases, and generate appropriate differential diagnoses based upon neuropathologic findings.A pretest will be given at the beginning of the rotation and a post test will be taken at the end of the rotation to document the progress made by the resident during the rotation.

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Brain cutting at TUH morgue: Tuesdays 9-10 amCases from the previous weeks are discussed and examined at the gross level focusing on both autopsy neuropathology concepts as well as general neuroanatomy.Autopsy confererences at Multiheaded scope: Tuesdays 8-9 amInteresting findings from the autopsy brains are presented to the residentsMonthly neuropathology lecture/ slide conference: The didactic session cover topics such as CNS infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and trauma; while the unknown case conferences focus on CNS tumor pathology. For the later, residents are given a series of 5-6 cases with clinical history for review prior to the conference, and asked to formulate a working differential diagnosis for each of the cases.

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Neuropathology | Lewis Katz School of Medicine