[Histonet] Cutting Frozen Lung

[Greg Dobbin]

Hi Meghan,
Healthy lung is terrible to cut frozen. All those air spaces collapse
on sectioning. Unhealthy lung on the other hand is a dream to cut! I
have heard it suggested to perfuse the lungs with dilute frozen cutting
compound (eg OCT or similar) prior to selecting the piece(s) for frozen
sectioning. In theory it should work well but I have not tried it
myself. Otherwise, a quick swipe of the cutting surface with your thumb
just before sectioning might help a little (maximizing the amount of
viewable tissue in the section) but your sections (of healthy lung)will
never be "beautiful" in my experience.
good luck.
Greg 

Greg Dobbin, R.T.
Chief Technologist, Anatomic Pathology
Dept. of Laboratory Medicine,
Queen Elizabeth Hospital,
P.O. Box 6600
Charlottetown, PE    C1A 8T5
Phone: (902) 894-2337
Fax: (902) 894-2385

"I find that the harder I work, the 
more luck I seem to have."
- Thomas Jefferson


>>> Meghan Tucker <meghan.tucker <@t> yahoo.com> 1/4/2010 11:23:01 AM >>>
Hello! 
 
I am looking for some helpful hints for cutting frozen lung tissue. I
have tried just about everything I can think of!
 
Thanks!



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