College of Veterinary Medicine

Anatomic Pathology | Clinical Pathology

FAQs on CPMPSR Anatomic Pathology services 

Q. What types of services are included in Anatomic Pathology?

A. In addition to phenotypic evaluations of genetically modified mice (GEM), the CPMPSR offers standardized and customized necropsy and biopsy, trimming of tissue specimens for slide presentation, frozen (OCT) block preparation from fresh tissues, gross and microscopic digital photography and slide scanning, small animal/specimen radiography, histopathological slide evaluation, pathology consultation, and training in related lab animal pathology techniques. Please see Services and Fees for detailed service descriptions and costs. 

Q. What animal species can you evaluate?

A. Pathological evaluations can be carried out on specimens of all veterinary species. Please contact the lab (614-247-8122, CPMPSR [at] cvm [dot] osu [dot] edu) prior to submission of live animals. Live animals should be submitted in covered cages.

Q. How do I arrange to submit specimens to the CPMPSR?

A.  For non-phenotyping cases involving live animals, fixed tissues or slides:

Download and fill out an Anatomic Pathology Request Form and bring it with your specimen(s) to the lab in VMAB 471. If you plan to submit live animals for biopsy, necropsy, or blood collection, please notify the lab prior to submission.

     For phenotyping cases previously uncharacterized genetically modified mice GEM:

Please download and completely fill out the Phenotyping Pre-Submission Form and email (CPMPSR [at] cvm [dot] osu [dot] edu),or FAX it (614-292-6473) to the CPMPSR. A CPMPSR pathologist will then contact you to discuss your submission and determine a date for submitting your mice.

      For submission of blood, serum/plasma, or other fluids:

Download and fill out the Clinical Pathology Request Form and bring it with your samples. We will need at least 24 hours notice for large submissions of 25 or more samples for optimal turnaround.

Live animals and fixed tissues should be submitted in covered cages and opaque containers, respectively. Please remove or reverse water bottles prior to transport.

Q. What if I don’t have all the information requested on the pre-submission and request forms?

A. The information requested is essential for a valid pathological interpretation. Published references pertaining to any genetic manipulation(s), treatment(s), or animal model(s) are particularly helpful. If you do not have the information on hand at submission, please relay it to us as soon as possible.

Q. When and where do I bring my submissions?

A. We can receive submissions from 8AM to 4PM Mon-Fri, unless alternative arrangements have been made. The CPMPSR lab is located in the Veterinary Medical Academic Building (VMAB), 1900 Coffey Road, room 471. The VMAB is a new 4-story building on the CVM campus in the cul-de-sac off Coffey Road with a flag pole at the main entrance. From the main entrance take the elevator to your right (west). Upon exiting the elevator on the 4th floor, you may obtain entrance to the lab by simply picking up the phone on the opposite wall; the phone rings directly to the lab and a technician will let you into the research area.

Q. What if I have a critically ill animal that I need to submit ASAP?

A. Please call the lab (614-247-8122) as soon as you find such an animal. If there is insufficient time for proper processing that day, we may ask you to contact your ULAR veterinarian for euthanasia and/or necropsy assistance.

Q. What if an animal dies prior to a scheduled submission?

A. If an animal dies after hours or during a weekend, you should ideally perform a gross necropsy and preserve the tissues in formalin for submission during regular business hours; if needed, CPMPSR technicians are available to train you in gross necropsy and tissue fixation techniques. Otherwise, immediately refrigerate – DO NOT FREEZE - the animal and submit the carcass on ice ASAP during regular business hours. Marked autolysis may preclude any definitive histological interpretation, so it is important to refrigerate or preserve dead animals as soon as possible.

Q. How long will it take to get my results?

A. Due to the variability of our workloads from week to week and the fact that we currently have only one dedicated veterinary pathologist, we cannot guarantee delivery times. In general, our anatomic cases are usually completed within 6-8 weeks. However, all reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate deadlines for publications, grant applications, or meetings. Please notify the CPMPSR staff of such deadlines at the time of submission.

Q. In what form will I receive my results?

A. Unless otherwise requested, reports will be provided in .pdf format; accompanying digital photographs and/or digitized radiographs will be provided in .jpeg format. A CD may be generated if the size of the case file so warrants.

Q. Will my results remain confidential?

A. Yes. The CPMPSR will not release any information about your specimen(s)/case(s) to any other individual without your express permission. Some selected specimens may be used in teaching veterinary pathology and laboratory animal residents, but those materials will not be used in scientific publications of any form without the permission of the owner of those specimens.

Q. What happens to the end products of specimen processing, e.g., tissue blocks, slides, and remaining tissue, etc., after the case/project has been completed? 

A. All glass slides, tissue blocks, wet tissues, etc., will be stored by the CPMPSR unless the PI specifically requests in his/her submission form that they be returned. Selected materials may be used for teaching veterinary pathology and laboratory animal residents. Wet tissue (that tissue remaining after trimming and slide generation) will be disposed of within a month of the case final report and billing unless the PI requests otherwise.

Q. How will I be billed?

A. All billing is done through the accounting services of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC). An online 100W is generated and emailed to OSU principal investigators. For non-OSU investigative faculty, an invoice is mailed to the funding PI or program accounting office. 

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FAQs regarding CPMPSR Clinical Pathology services

 Q. What kinds of clinical pathology services do you offer?

A. The CPMPSR currently offers hematology, serum biochemistry, analysis of urine and other body fluids, and cytology. All tests are performed by qualified laboratory professionals trained in veterinary laboratory techniques. The laboratory staff is committed to research in improved diagnostics, reference range development, and state-of-the-art assays; new tests are continually being added as experimental needs change. We also have a network of reference laboratories available to provide tests that are not currently performed in-house.

Q. What species are included in your clinical pathology assays?

A. We can assay samples from a wide variety of species, including some exotics, and from virtually all large and small laboratory animals.

Q. What hematological and serum biochemistry tests are offered?

A. Please see our list of tests included in the Services and Fees section. If you have questions or do not see a desired assay, please contact the lab (614-247-8122, or CPMPSR [at] cvm [dot] osu [dot] edu) to inquire as to the availability of unlisted tests.

Q. What is the price per sample?

A. Our prices are listed under Services and Fees. Please contact the lab (614-247-8122, or CPMPSR [at] cvm [dot] osu [dot] edu) if you have any questions.

Q. How do I prepare and submit samples?

A. Sample preparation is dependent on what tests you wish to run; details regarding sample type, volume, and type of collection tube required can be found in Services and Fees. To help us continue to provide accurate and reliable results, please contact the lab (614-247-8122, CPMPSR [at] cvm [dot] osu [dot] edu) before collection and/or submission of samples. You will also need to download and fill out the Clinical Pathology Request Form and bring it with your samples.

Q. Is there a preferred day or time to submit samples for clinical pathology?

A. The clinical pathology lab is open from 8 to 5 PM Mon-Fri.; however, samples should be submitted before 1 PM, unless previous arrangements have been made, just to ensure that your tests can be run that same day. Whole blood must be submitted as soon after collection as possible. If you anticipate submitting a large number of samples (> 25), please call the lab 1 or 2 days prior to submission to facilitate scheduling.

Q. When and where do I bring my submissions?

A. We can receive submissions from 8AM to 3:30 PM Mon-Fri, unless alternative arrangements have been made. The CPMPSR lab is located in the Veterinary Medical Academic Building (VMAB), 1900 Coffey Road, room 471. The VMAB is a new 4-story building on the CVM campus in the cul-de-sac off Coffey Road with a flag pole at the main entrance. From the main entrance take the elevator to your right (west). Upon exiting the elevator on the 4th floor, you may obtain entrance to the lab by simply picking up the phone on the opposite wall; the phone rings directly to the lab and a technician will let you into the research area.

Q. How long will it take to get my results?

A. Hematology, serum chemistry and urinalysis results are usually forwarded to you within 48 hours. Analysis of blood smears and cytology submissions may require up to 5 working days as a manual observation is performed by our med tech to confirm the automated counts and to detect changes in cellular morphology. If submitted as stand alone samples, the results will be scanned and emailed to you, unless you make arrangements to pick them up from the CPMPSR lab. The results of clinical pathology performed in conjunction with anatomic pathology submissions are correlated with the histopathological findings and provided by the pathologist at case completion.

Q. How will I be billed?

A. All billing is done through the accounting services of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC). An online 100W is generated and emailed to principal investigators who are OSUCCC members. For both non-OSUCCC and non-OSU investigative faculty, an invoice is mailed to the funding PI.

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