[Histonet] Silver staining technique

[Hofecker, Jennifer L]

When manually performing silver stains, I always check each slide (pt
and control) for adequate development. In the case of GMS, Bielschowsky,
or other stains in which the patient tissue may not contain the elements
of interest, still check each slide but if in doubt, stop development
when the control slide staining is adequate. That, in my opinion, is an
advantage of manual staining. It is far easier to attain optimal
staining for each patient sample. We currently do all our NP silver
stains by hand and I feel much better giving the docs slides which were
individually monitored during development. For the record, I am not
opposed to automated SS (just trying to ward off the flames...)

I hope this has been of some help.
Have a great rest of the week!



Jennifer L. Hofecker HT (ASCP)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Neuropathology Lab
Nashville, Tennessee
ph. (615) 343-0083
fax (615) 343-7089
NSH Quality Control Chairperson


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of
bamoe <@t> gundluth.org
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 3:13 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Silver staining technique



Hi all -

A question has come up in our laboratory regarding silver staining
technique.

We currently run special stains manually.  For the GMS silver stain,
control tissue is run on a separate slide from the patient tissue.
During the silver step  (we use a microwave for heating) the control
slide is checked microscopically for adequate development.

The question is this:

If the control tissue is developed to satisfaction of the technician, do
you automatically remove the patient slides from the silver and continue
on with the procedure,  OR do you individually check each patient slide,
giving some more time in the silver solution if needed?

Any and all comments are welcome!

Thank you!

Barb Moe
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center
La Crosse WI

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