The ophthalmic pathologist can be faced with extremely difficult situations where it is not clear, even with the most sophisticated techniques, whether a lesion is benign or cancerous. The Eye Institute is extremely fortunate to have two specialists in ophthalmic pathology, Dr. Seymour Brownstein and Dr. David Addison . Together, they process over one hundred and fifty specimens per year. The Ottawa Registry of Ophthalmic Pathology was started at the Ottawa General Hospital in 1971. The Registry receives ocular specimens from the hospitals associated with the University of Ottawa, many of the Ottawa regional hospitals, and from medical institutions across Canada.
Ocular pathology is an integral part of the ophthlamology residency training programme.
Residents receive over twenty hours of didactic lectures augmented by rounds, journal clubs and supervised weekly reviews of microscopic slides with the new ten-headed microscope. At present, the ophthalmic pathology unit has over sixty ongoing research projects including collaborative studies with members of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and with many faculty members from various departments at the University of Ottawa. He has authored or co-authored more than one hundred fifteen publications. Research projects being directed by Dr. Seymour Brownstein and Dr. David Addison include ocular neoplasia, inflammation and infections, degenerations and vascular disorders, infiltrations, congenital and hereditary anomalies, glaucoma and trauma. Research projects undertaken by other subspecialists rely heavily on the ocular pathology unit in studies pertaining to the rate of vascularization of hydroxyapatite orbital implants and the toxicity of intraocular gases and medications.