[Histonet] Cassettes and Processing and Fixation ~ Oh My!

[Rene J Buesa]

Laura:
Trying to sum up your concerns, this is what I have always done:
1- just one type of cassette, with different colors for  rushes, regular, autopsies, bone marrows. If there were small biopsies they were placed between sponges. Bone marrow aspirates wrapped.
2- I always used the organized basket that allowed knowing the number and assured equal spacing between the cassettes
3- the fixation essentially took place before going into the tissue processor but 5 minutes in any event is just a joke.
4- the processing time will depend on the type of tissue and there are limits if you want not to waste the whole run because of inadequate processing
René J. 

--- On Mon, 3/9/09, Jones, Laura <lpjones <@t> srhs-pa.org> wrote:

From: Jones, Laura <lpjones <@t> srhs-pa.org>
Subject: [Histonet] Cassettes and Processing and Fixation ~ Oh My!
To: "Histonet (E-mail)" <Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Date: Monday, March 9, 2009, 10:43 AM

Hi all.  We are having a discussion here about everything in my subject line,
but to be more specific:

1.  Do you all use different types of cassettes for different sizes of tissues?
 We have screen cassettes for prostate biopsies, and biopsy cassettes for skins,
and regular flow through type for larger-than-they-should-be pieces that have
grid marks on them.

2.  When you load your cassettes on the processor, do you use the
"organized" basket that spaces them out or the "random"
basket?  If you use the "random" method, how tightly do you feel the
cassettes can be packed?  Isn't it true that if they are packed too tightly,
the fixation of the tissue will be compromised?  And, how does everyone use
agitation/stirring on the processor?  We have always used it, but are wondering
how others are doing things.

3.  Finally, for a run of combination tissues as described above, what would be
your recommended time in formalins?  We know all Pathologists are in a hurry for
slides, but is a 5 minute station ever acceptable?

This is all a result of weeks of discussion about possible changes we could
make here, and varying things we have learned over the years... we'd just
like to hear what everyone else is doing.  For instance: would it be simpler to
use biopsy cassettes for everything?  Should we consider using the random basket
instead of the organized one?  How far back could we cut our processing times to
expedite things?  We'd really appreciate the input of all you experts. 
Thanks in advance!

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