Renal pathology- image of glomerulus from renal biopsy

Renal Pathology

Arkana Laboratories leads the country in renal biopsy interpretation and diagnosis. Our team of renal pathologists is dedicated to providing same-day biopsy results for all of our patients.

Quick Facts

Renal Pathologists

0

Publications

0 +

Renal Biopsy Case Library

0 +

Renal Pathology Lab at Arkana Laboratories

Same-day Biopsy Results

As pathologists, we recognize that the longest period in a patient’s life is the timeframe between the day he/she has a biopsy, and the day the result arrives.  When choosing a renal biopsy service, same-day results should be the standard.

Light, IF, and EM

As the mainstays of the laboratory, our Light, IF and EM departments provide superior quality and intricate processes that aid in rapid diagnosis. However, the IHC department is developing the most rapidly, using specialized equipment from vendors that lead the world in automation.

Clinicopathologic Discussion

The call to deliver results is one of the most exciting parts of the process. We make a diagnosis and the conversation around the results is often a detailed discussion on the patient’s clinical history, what the biopsy shows, as well as potential therapies that we recently read about in nephrology journals. We frequently end the call with an email to send over the latest research on a particular disease process.

Improving patient care is what drives Arkana‘s advanced understanding of renal pathology. Our processes combined with our knowledge make us efficient and effective in diagnosing more than 90 kidney biopsies a day.  

Our Rapid Process

Our rapid turnaround process has been carefully refined over the years to enable consistent delivery of light microscopy, immunofluorescence and electron microscopy within hours of receipt of a specimen in our lab.

Hour 1

Biopsy Received

FedEx drops off your package, and we begin our accessioning and grossing process. We carefully document and label everything we received and send the pieces of tissue to their respective departments.

Hours 2-5

Specimen Processed

Tissue samples for light microscopy and electron microscopy testing begin processing. The sample submitted for immunofluorescence testing is ready for embedding and cutting immediately.

Hour 3

Biopsy Received

Light microscopy processing is complete and embedding begins. We embed the sample in paraffin wax to enable us to cut super thin sections for placement on the glass slides.
Immunofluorescence - still cutting and light microscopy staining begins.
Electron Microscopy - still processing.

Hour 4

Specimen Processed

The slides prepared for light microscopy are ready for the stainers. High-throughput stainers will dehydrate and stain the tissue with a variety of dyes to aid the pathologists in viewing cellular structure in detail.

The immunofluorescence team has finished cutting the sections and are finishing up the staining by dropping antibodies on the corresponding slides. They cover these to protect them from light during the incubation period.

Processing for electron microscopy is complete and EM blocks are sent to the ultramicrotome room for cutting. We begin by cutting “thick” sections to identify glomeruli. When the ideal glomerulus is identified, we cut our thin sections and place them on a copper grid, which we then move to the electron microscopes.

Hour 5

Physician Evaluation

Slides for light microscopy are stained and ready.
Slides for immunofluorescence are dry and ready for evaluation.
Electron microscopy scoping begins.

Hour 6-8

Physician Evaluation

Electron microscopy scoping.

Hour 9

Final Results

Physicians finish reading the days cases and delivering all results calls to the clinicians. Reports are typed and faxed out to the nephrologist and pathologist, reports and images are put on the web and are also available via Arkana Connect.

Quick Guides

microscope with slide of renal biopsy

Renal Weekend Service

We are happy to call you with the results on Saturday afternoon but need your help to make that happen. If you have an emergency case you would like read on Saturday, the following steps must be taken:

  • Call our office on Friday by 5:00 pm CST
  • Provide us with a weekend contact number for the nephrologist on call

For questions regarding our service or if you would like to request kits.

Renal Forms