Histopathology services at The Children's Hospital at Westmead

The Histopathology Department provides anatomical pathology services for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead for a range of conditions including diagnosis of tumours, skin, renal, gastrointestinal tract and liver disease. A slide consultation service is provided for other hospitals and pathology providers in NSW and Australia for complex paediatric surgical and foetal/perinatal pathology, as well as a state-wide service for perinatal autopsies.

The Department also has formal links for perinatal services with a number of areas across NSW including the Sydney West, South Western, Central and Greater Western, numerous private hospitals as well as a number of separate public hospitals both regional and greater metropolitan areas.

A consultation service for paediatric pathology cases is provided, from both public and private sector laboratories.

The Department has commenced insitu hybridisation (ISH) testing for viral antigens, evaluatation of liver biopsies for the Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis (PFIC) cases and validating immunohistochemistry testing for surfactant protein abnormalities (a cause of lung disease, sometimes severe), in conjunction with genetic testing. These tests are highly specialised and are not readily available at other sites in NSW or (for some) Australia.