[Histonet] Re: Masson trichrome stain

[Tony Henwood]

A simple stain to do. Stain dewaxed sections with haematoxylin (Iron or
celestine blue), stain with Van Gieson solution 5 minutes or more
(dependent on the red dye used), blot gently, dehydrate, clear and mount
and you are done.

Several Pathologists here in Australia are using the Van Gieson stain
routinely on liver biopsies and many more are being attracted to it.

I recommend you give it a go, you might be surprised


Give it a go 

Regards

Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC)
Laboratory Manager & Senior Scientist
Tel: 612 9845 3306
Fax: 612 9845 3318
the children's hospital at westmead 
Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead 
Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA 




-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Robert
Richmond
Sent: Wednesday, 31 December 2008 8:12 AM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Re: Masson trichrome stain


Hi Tony Henwood and all!

I'm only familiar with the Van Gieson stain as a counterstain for
Verhoeff's hematoxylin, the elastic stain.

Reproducibility is extremely important in evaluating fibrosis in liver
biopsy specimens from hepatitis C patients (most common indication for
liver biopsy in many places), since the extent of fibrosis determines
whether the patient gets the very arduous year-long treatment or not.
And I think the standard, at least in the USA, is the sort of blue
trichrome stain standardized a good many years ago by Klatskin and his
disciples.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 3:48 PM, Tony Henwood <AnthonyH <@t> chw.edu.au>
wrote:
> We have had great success with the simple Van Gieson stain.
>
> It stains the collagen (& fibrosis) really well.
>
> Regards
>
> Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC) Laboratory 
> Manager & Senior Scientist
> Tel: 612 9845 3306
> Fax: 612 9845 3318
> the children's hospital at westmead
> Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead
> Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Robert

> Richmond
> Sent: Wednesday, 31 December 2008 6:18 AM
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: [Histonet] Re: Masson trichrome stain
>
>
> Sarah Reeves (in the UK) asks:
>
>>>Does anyone know how to achieve a perfect Masson trichrome stain? Our

>>>counterstain (light green in acetic acid) works well, but the 
>>>intensity of the muscle stain is not very bright. Does anyone have 
>>>any
>
>>>suggestions? We will be staining liver biopsies mostly in the near 
>>>future and wish to improve our technique.<<
>
> If you're going to be staining liver biopsy specimens (by far the most

> common use of the trichrome stain by pathologists today, on paraffin 
> embedded tissue anyhow), your pathologists need a stain with a very 
> strong blue component (aniline blue or similar), since they're going 
> to be semi-quantitating small amounts of fibrosis. I've had pretty 
> good results with commercial trichrome kits, as long as they're not 
> used past their expiration dates.
>
> You should use liver tissue - it can be normal, though better with a 
> little fibrosis - as your stain control. Autopsy material is quite 
> suitable.
>
> Better talk this over with your pathologists before proceeding. I'll 
> be happy to e-mail with them if it'll help.
>
> Bob Richmond
> Samurai Pathologist
> Knoxville TN

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