Neuropathology

The Neuropathology Unit of the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology is responsible for the diagnosis of all biopsies of the central and peripheral nervous system and muscles, as well as all postmortem brain tissues. We are one of the largest neuropathology laboratories in the country, examining over 1,600 surgical specimens per year, including biopsies for brain tumors, infectious and inflammatory diseases, nerve and muscle diseases, dementias, and cerebrovascular disease.

We also examine brains removed at autopsy. Many of these come from patients who expire at Columbia University Medical Center, others from patients who had been followed by one of our neurology services but die outside of the hospital. We manage a brain "bank," where we store thousands of samples of postmortem brain tissues, primarily from patients with neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and a large number of other rarer disorders. These tissues are sent all over the country to research laboratories known for their work on neurodegenerative diseases.