AP Specimen Handling Instructions for Processing

Specimens for surgical pathology/histology and cytology

This informational document is intended to provide brief guidelines for clinical laboratory staff on how to handle and store anatomic pathology specimens, including specimens for surgical pathology/histology and cytology.

Storage Conditions

Note the following specimen storage conditions independent of storage conditions upon receipt

SPECIMEN STORAGE CONDITION

Fresh tissue/fluids
(not received in fixative)

Shared specimens: Aliquots for Lab Medicine (Sunquest) testing should be performed PRIOR to storage for Pathology. Store at 4°C after splitting.

Cytogenetics/FISH: Store at Room Temp, see Chromosome Analysis, SCCA [SCHRAN] for details.

Surgical Pathology/Histology/Cytology: Store at Room Temp or 4°C
Formalin Fixative Store at Room Temp or 4°C
Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tissue (FFPE), Cassettes Store at Room Temp or 4°C
CytoLyt Cup, ThinPrep Vial, (Cytology fixative) Store at Room Temp or 4°C
Thyroseq vial (Cytology) Store at 4°C
RPMI Store at 4°C
Kidney stones for analysis Store at Room Temp or 4°C. See Kidney Stone Analysis (Sendout) [RSTONE] for details.
Slides Store at Room Temp or 4°C

Anatomic Pathology Tests

Cytology/HPV

TEST NAME EPIC ORDER LAB TESTING LOCATION
Cytopathology Non-Gyn NONGYN Cytology (HMC)
Cervical (and Vaginal) Cancer Screening (aka Pap) LAB010 Cytology/HPV (HMC)
Pap Only LAB011 Cytology (HMC)
Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) LAB012 HPV (HMC)
HPV Reflex to Pap LAB007 Cytology/HPV (HMC)
Pap Reflex to HPV LAB006 Cytology/HPV (HMC)
Thyroseq Testing (Send Out to CBL Path) n/a Cytology (HMC)
Bile Duct FISH Testing (Send Out to ARUP) n/a Cytology (HMC)
Amyloid Testing NONGYN Cytology (HMC)

Cytogenetics and Genomics Laboratories

TEST NAME EPIC ORDER LAB TESTING LOCATION
FISH, Constitutional FISHCONST2 Cytogenetics/FISH Lab (UWMC)
FISH, Neoplasia LAB015 Cytogenetics/FISH Lab (UWMC)
Grow Cells LABGROWCELLS Cytogenetics/FISH Lab (UWMC)
Karyotype, Constitutional LAB016 Cytogenetics/FISH Lab (UWMC)
Karyotype, Neoplasia KARYONEOP Cytogenetics/FISH Lab (UWMC)

IHC

TEST NAME LAB TESTING LOCATION
IHC changes Histology/IHC (UWMC-ML, HMC)
MSI by IHC Histology/IHC (UWMC-ML, HMC)

Surgical Pathology

TEST NAME EPIC ORDER LAB TESTING LOCATION
Pathology, Surgical SURG Gross Room (UWMC-ML, HMC)

Pathology Directory

For urgent specimen questions after hours, please page the LabMed Resident On-Call

AP Lab Section Phone Location Operating Hours
Front Office, UWMC 598-6400 UWMC BB220 M-F 8am-5pm
Front Office, HMC 744-3145 HMC NJ244 M-F 8am-5pm
Autopsy Suite 598-4205 UWMC BB250 M-F 9am-3pm
Cytogenetics/FISH Lab 598-4488 UWMC NW125 M-F 8:30am-5pm, Sat-Sun 10am-2pm
Cytology Processing Lab 744-4279 HMC NJ272 M-F 8am-5pm
Electron Microscopy (EM) Lab 598-6411 UWMC BB222 M-F 7am-4:30pm
Histology, UWMC 598-4028 UWMC NW211 M-F 24hr
Histology, HMC 744-3146 HMC NJ270 M-F 5am-5pm
HPV Lab 744-3911 HMC NJ269 M-F 6:30am-3:30pm
Slide Room, UWMC 598-7324 UWMC NW014 M-F 8am-5pm
Slide Room, HMC 744-4931 HMC NJ247 M-F 8am-4:30pm
SurgPath Gross Room, HMC 744-4278 HMC NJ274 M-F 8:30am-5pm
SurgPath Gross Room, UWMC-ML 598-4286 UWMC EC239 M-F 6:30am-8pm
SurgPath Gross Room, UWMC-NW 668-1779 NW A257 M-F 8am-5pm

Search Terms

amyloid, anatomic, AP, autopsy, Bile duct, Biopsy, Cancer, Cervical, constitutional, cytogenetics, cytology, electron, fish, fna, grow cells, histology, histopathology, hpv, karyotype, malignancy, metastasis, microscopy, neoplasia, pap, pathology, surgical, thyro, thyroseq

Last updated 2023-11-17T19:09:08.535781+00:00