Dermatopathology is a subspecialty of dermatology and surgical pathology that focuses on the study of cutaneous diseases at a microscopic level. It also encompasses analysis of the potential causes of skin diseases at a cellular level. Our in-house histology lab has a fellowship trained and board certified dermatopathologist who is also board certified in the subspecialty of hematopathology, which includes the study of cutaneous lymphomas.
Our board certified dermatologists are able to recognize most skin diseases based on their appearance, anatomic distribution and behavior. When those criteria do not allow a conclusive diagnosis to be made, a skin biopsy is taken for further analysis. Analysis under the microscope reveals the histology of the disease and results in a specific diagnostic interpretation. There are cases where additional specialized testing needs to be performed for a diagnostic interpretation. This testing may include but is not limited to, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, flow cytometry and molecular pathologic analysis.