Normal lab hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EST, Monday through Friday

Surgical Neuropathology Consultation Service
600 North Wolfe Street
Pathology 710
Baltimore, MD 21287
Phone: (410) 955-8378
Fax: (410) 410-614-9310

Neuropathology was established as a separate subspecialty in the Department of Pathology in 1971. Under the leadership of Dr. Donald Price, the division has gained an international reputation for its experimental studies of diseases of the brain. Ongoing experience with state-of-the-art research ensures that faculty members remain at the forefront of their fields, with access to the most recent methodologies for diagnosis and continuing experience with many cases of unusual diseases.

Our diagnostic expertise in neuropathology includes such specialities as adult and pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors, cerebrovascular disease, trauma, forensic neuropathology, AIDS; and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Expert consultation

Director of the Neuropathology Surgical Consultation Services, Dr. Peter Burger is one of the world's leading authorities in the interpretation of surgical specimens of brain and spinal cord tumors in adults and children. He has extensive experience in interpreting stereotactic needle biopsies. He is co-author of the AFIP Atlas of Tumor Pathology, Tumors of the Central Nervous System, and has authored two major textbooks in central nervous system tumors. Currently, he is the review pathologist for several clinical trials studying new therapies for patients with brain tumors. Dr. Burger personally oversees all diagnostic evaluations sent to the service.

Dr. Barbara Crain's interest is general autopsy neuropathology with emphasis on epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease, especially Alzheimer's disease. Founder of the Kathleen Price Bryan Brain Bank, Dr. Crain is vice chair of the Neuropathology Committee of the College of American Pathologists.

Dr. Juan Troncoso is also interested in neurodegenerative diseases. He established the Brain Resource Center, which is the repository for brain tissue specimens at Johns Hopkins University. In addition, Dr. Troncoso has served as neuropathologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland for more than 10 years.

Special capabilities and services

Our laboratory is fully equipped to perform the special diagnostic tests needed to study degenerative diseases of the brain, and has vast experience doing the special stains required for these studies. We are skilled in interpreting stereotactic needle biopsies of brain lesions and can perform in-situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, light microscopy, immunofluorescence, and electron microscopy, as necessary.

The consultation service aims to respond to requests within 24 hours of the receipt of material. Dr. Burger personally provides a verbal report to the requesting physician and sends the final report by fax. Dr. Burger is available for phone consultations. Pathology material can be returned, if requested.

Written reports on post-mortem evaluations are generally provided within two to four weeks. The final written report is sent by fax. Drs. Crain and Troncoso are also available for phone consultation. Autopsy specimens are returned promptly upon request.

Surgical specimens will be returned promptly after the evaluation and report are completed.

• Professor of Pathology, Oncology and Neurosurgery
• Director, Oncologic Neuropathology Service

• Residency in Pathology and Fellow in Neuropathology, Duke University Medical Center
• M.D., Northwestern University Medical School
• Certification by American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Neuropathology

• Chairman, Pathology Review Committee (Brain Tumors), Pediatric Oncology Group
• Author, Surgical Pathology of the Nervous System and its Coverings
• Author, Tumors of the Central Nervous System: Atlas of Tumor Pathology
• Editor, Histological Typing of Central Nervous System Tumors, World Health Organization
• Editorial Board, American Journal of Surgical Pathology
• Member, American Association of Neuropathologists
• Member, U.S. Canadian Academy of Pathology
• Member, College of American Pathologists

• Director, Autopsy Pathology
• Associate Professor of Pathology

• Ph.D. in Anatomy (Neuroanatomy), Duke University
• M.D., Duke University
• Residency in Anatomic and Neuropathology, Duke University Medical Center
• Certified by American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Neuropathology

• Member (1992 to present), Vice Chair (1996 - 1999), and Chair (2000- present), Neuropathology Committee, College of American Pathologists
• Chair, Neuropathology Slide Session, 1996-1998, US-Canadian Academy of Pathology; Vice President for Professional Affairs for the American Association of Neuropathologists (2001 - present)
• Editorial Board, Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology
• Editorial Board, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

• Associate Professor of Pathology and Neurology
• Neuropathology Consultant, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Maryland

• M.D., Universidad Catolica, Chile
• Residency in Neurology, Hahnemann Medical College
• Fellowship in Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins University

• Co-Program Director, Johns Hopkins University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center
• Director, Neuropathology-Neurology Course, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Member, National Institutes of Health, NIA, Study Section

For Biopsy Specimens and Surgical Neuropathology Consults, contact Peter Burger, M.D.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Neuropathology Division
Pathology 710
600 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21287-6417

For Autopsy and Other Neuropathology Specimens, contact Juan Troncoso, MD

The Johns Hopkins Hospital
Neuropathology Division
558 Ross Building
720 Rutland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21205

Standard Processing for Surgical Specimens

The division provides expert evaluation of surgical specimens of brain and spinal cord tissue, including stereotactic needle biopsies. We use in-situ hybridization, light microscopy, immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and/or electron microscopy as appropriate for each case.

For timely and results we require representative paraffin blocks or unstained slides. All specimens are automatically returned after final report is issued.

Post Mortem Brain Examinations

The division examines fixed brain specimens, tissue blocks, and/or histologic slides prepared at other hospitals. For families in the Baltimore area, faculty can also provide limited (brain only) or complete autopsies (including brain examination). For families outside the near Baltimore area, please call Joanna DonDero (410) 955-3765.