[Histonet] Storage of Unstained Slides

[Gagnon, Eric]

Hi Daniel,
 
Between cutting and sign-out, we keep unstained slides in our 60-degree oven overnight, or longer if there are section adhesion problems. Then we store them in baskets or on trays at room temperature.  A day's unstained slides do not take up too much bench space if stored this way.
 
Once the case is signed out, our unstained slides are filed with all our stained slides.  We will generally take slides in for filing when the tray gets full, usually about once a week. Over time, we should probably stop storing these unstained slides, once we can convince pathologists to use fresh-cut sections.  That change is coming, but I don't think we're there yet.  They do take up a lot of room when dealing with a not so insignificant volume, you're right!
 
Eric Gagnon MLT
Histology Laboratory
Kingston General Hospital
Kingston, Ontario, Canada