Department of Pathology

HISTOPATHOLOGY/MORBIDANATOMY DEPARTMENT

DR UCHENDU OBIORA (Head of Department)

A staff of the DELSUTH Pathology department examining a sample

The department is divided into the following units:

  1. Autopsy & Forensic medicine
  2. Cytopathology
    • a) Exfoliative cytology, e.g. Pap smear, pleural aspirate
    • b) Fine needle aspiration cytology
    • Cytochemistry and immunocytochemistry
  3. Surgical pathology
    • Histology
    • Special stains
    • Immunohistochemistry
    • Frozen section
    • Electron microscopy
    • Molecular studies
    • Body storage and embalmment service (Mortuary)

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Cross-section of some staff of the pathology department at work in the DELSUTH medical laboratory.
  1. Autopsy and forensic services
    • To identify the cause of death
    • Toxicology analysis to identify poisons or chemicals that led to patient’s death
    • To harvest organs for the medical museum and medical training
    • To resolve paternity disputes through DNA testing using DNA diagnostic centers
  2. Body storage and embalmment services
    • To store dead bodies till it’s convenient for burial or disposal
  3. Surgical Pathology and Cytopathology services
    • To identify the diseases affecting the organ or tissue
    • To guide the clinician on the prognosis of the disease(especially cancers)
    • To identify the extent of cancer growth and if the surgical margin is involved.
    • To stage and grade cancers
    • Outside consultation: Difficult or challenging cases are sent to bigger laboratories for higher/specialized studies
  4. Medical training, education, research, and publishing

Chemical Pathology Department

The Chemical Pathology Department of Delta State University Teaching Hospital(DELSUTH), Oghara, Delta State, has an Architect Plus c4000 Abbott clinical chemistry analyzer, that demonstrates high-quality testing of results with rapid turnaround time. It is a chemistry Auto Analyzer built to enhance laboratory productivity and provides users high confidence in clinical results, using a high sensitivity and specificity principle of electrochemiluminescence.

This Chemistry Auto Analyzer offers up to 800 tests within a throughput of 1 hour. It has a load-up capacity of 100 samples with positions for emergency samples as priority tests. This is used for analysis like electrolytes, urea, creatinine, calcium, phosphate, C Reactive Protein, etc. It has programmable features to run a lot of clinical chemistry analytes once reagents are provided.

There is also the Architect Plus i1000SR clinical chemistry Auto Analyzer that uses immunochemistry principle for a lot of hormonal analytes ran as immunoassays. It is built with flexible protocols that enhance laboratory workflow alongside the Architect Plus c4000, complementing its operations.

There are also other complementing and backup machines like ERBA Chem Biochemistry Analyzer, Ion-Selective Electrode(ISE) and Electrophoresis Machine.