[Histonet] Staining vs. paraffin wax problems

[Jason McGough]

We are experiencing difficulties with our H&E staining and other Special
Stains. After the slides are stained the edges of the tissue look
fragmented/chattered. Our pathologists also thought the sections looked like
they might be too thick but we checked all of our microtomes for thickness
settings and all are set at 4 micrometers. There seems to be several
blotches of light staining throughout the tissue. This seems to be only on
our small biopsies. We use McCormick Paraplast Extra for paraffin wax.
Another bit information is that we recycle all of our xylene.

Is this a deparaffinization, processing, or a staining issue? Any help is
appreciated.

Jason McGough HT(ASCP)
Account Representative - Anatomic Pathology
Clinical Laboratory of the Black Hills
2805 5th Street Suite 210
Rapid City, SD 57701
605-343-2267 Ext 127
605-718-3779 (Fax)
jmcgough <@t> clinlab.com