[Histonet] Improper tissue processing

[Kari Breal]

I have had another tissue malfunction.  The last time was July 4th weekend and it happened again last weekend- Christmas weekend.  The tissue came off of the processor mushy- I suspect with water still in them.  The processor did not malfunction or error according to the blank error log- we have a VIP E300.  When I checked the reagents in the processor- the reagents up to the last 100% were correct.  The last 100% alcohol was at 87%.  Which to me is what caused the raw tissue but what I can not figure out is how it got that way.  This happened on Friday with minimal staff.  No one changed any reagents on Friday and the tissue from Friday morning was normal.  The processor was due to be rotated on Monday the 27th. 

My doc's are looking for reasons and answers and I am drawing a blank.  I was hoping another histologist outside of this chaos might be able to think of questions or reasons that I am not currently able to.

I also would like to know how everyone is treating their under processed tissue.  Reprocessing by hand? Reprocessing on the VIP? We actually reprocessed using a microwave processor.  The tissue turned from mush to extremely hard tissues.  Unfortunately 45 of the 50 blocks were prostate bx's and there was very little tissue to begin with.

Thank you for your assistance!

Kari Breal