[Histonet] Decontamination of a Cryostat

[Sharon.Davis-Devine]

This issue seems to be rearing its ugly head in our lab once again.
What is the correct procedure for decontaminating a cryostat after let's
say a specimen from an HIV patient for a frozen was cut on it?  We have
a couple of different cryostats, one of them defrosts quickly and the
other one ices over and defrosts very slowly.  Our PA's assist with 98%
of the frozens and will use either one of the cryostats.  Our
pathologists, who perform frozens by themselves on a rare occasion,
prefer the cryostat that defrosts very slowly.  Of course the cryostat
that was contaminated was down awaiting decontamination when a
pathologist had to perform a frozen.  We are now being told that we need
to replace the cryostat that the pathologist doesn't like to use. So
have any of you had any issues like this and if you have how did you
handle it?  Are there any decontamination procedures available for a
quick turnaround?  Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Sharon Davis-Devine, CT (ASCP)

Cytology-Histology  Supervisor

Carle Foundation Hospital

Laboratory and Pathology Services

611 West Park Street

Urbana, Illinois 61801

217-383-3572

sharon.davis-devine <@t> carle.com