[Histonet] Fixatives

[Barry Madigan]

Yes it would be a great help to know how long tissue has been fixed for.
Tissue that has been fixed for short times does have a tendency of being
damaged by the usual heat or enzyme antigen retrieval protocols,
particularly the nuclei detail with the heat.
I find this loss of nuclei detail a major problem when dealing with
lymphomas.
Unfortunately there is no standardisation of fixation not even in our own
laboratory let alone the number of laboratories that refer paraffin blocks
or slides for Immunohistochemistry.
It is a problem that is difficult to control since Immunohistochemistry is
usually the last area to deal with cases before the reports are finalised.
Also there is the added problem that your control material has not received
the same conditions as the test.
Thank God for internal controls.

Well that was my rant.

Barry Madigan
Immunohistochemistry
QHPS-Central
Queensland
Australia

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Katri
Tuomala
Sent: Sunday, 21 May 2006 9:45 AM
To: Patti Loykasek; histonet
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Fixatives

I totally agree with Patti. Knowing what the tissue has been fixed in and 
sometimes how long would be a big help in doing special stains and immunos. 
It should be standard information given to reference labs. I don't think 
this issue belongs to Friday rants, it is a valid point!

Katri
Katri Tuomala
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Patti Loykasek" <ploykasek <@t> phenopath.com>
To: "histonet" <histonet <@t> pathology.swmed.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 4:21 PM
Subject: [Histonet] Fixatives


> After reading John Kiernan's eloquent dissertation on knowing your 
> fixative,
> I thought I'd venture on a similar topic. We are a reference lab and 
> receive
> specimens from all over the USA. One of my "pet peeves" is that it is rare
> to see in the report exactly what type of fixative the specimen was 
> received
> in or subsequently processed in. I know we have no standard form of
> reporting, but it just seems like best practice to me to include this
> information on the report. One of my favorites is "...received in
> fixative..." - not very helpful. I could go on & on.
> At any rate, this is just a bit of a Friday rant. I was wondering how 
> others
> felt as perhaps I am too far in left field (or maybe just the 
> 'left"coast).
> Thanks all.
>
> Patti Loykasek
> PhenoPath Laboratories
>
>
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