[Histonet] curious about soaking paraffin blocks.

[Tony Henwood]

Hi Kemlo,

Yes, I'm one of those that routinely soak trimmed blocks on water/ice.
The rationale being that some tissues (eg spleen with lots of blood and
thyroid with copious amounts of colloid) over-dehydrate during
processing resulting in cracks and shrinkage on the final microscopic
appearance. These tissues benefit from water soaking (30 years
experience confirms this).

I agree that tissues should be properly fixed and processed but in the
real-world where histo specimens are batched, processing times are
optimised for the majority of specimens so many do require some tweaking
at the microtomy stage.

We used to regularly have small endoscopic biopsies that were
over-processed. We now use a dedicated carousel-type processor for these
specimens, and the dried-out appearance is now rarely seen.

Regards

Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC)
Laboratory Manager & Senior Scientist
The Children's Hospital at Westmead,
Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, 2145, AUSTRALIA.
Tel: 612 9845 3306
Fax: 612 9845 3318




-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Kemlo
Rogerson
Sent: Friday, 26 October 2007 4:57 PM
To: Heckford, Karen - SMMC-SF; histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: RE: [Histonet] curious about soaking paraffin blocks.


"I always face my blocks and then place them on the ice facing upwards.
If I need to soak any blocks I use ammonia water only for about a
minute.  I have in the past used Downey fabric softener (the original
scent only) this works great on big tissue like uterus.  It also makes
the lab smell like a laundry facility."

Now that makes sense as you are alluding to 'softening' the tissue with
fabric softener which you must do from time to time (but surely not
regularly) for those very hard blocks. I've always maintained that if
you fix tissue properly and process them optimally you won't need these
fancy reclamation methods. 

Kemlo Rogerson
Pathology Manager
DD   01934 647057 or extension 3311
Mob 07749 754194; Pager 07659 597107;
 
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