[Histonet] Ocular fiative

[Joseph Saby]

Tahseen-

I work in the world of animal/research histology.  I have spent many years working with rodent and nonrodent eyes, developing my skills and knowledge. 

Different fixatives work well with different parts of the eye.  10% NBF might wotk well for cornea, bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva.  But it is just about the worst fixative for retina.  Most glutaraldehyde fixatives are hypertonic and cause the eyes to collaspe unless "windows" (~2-5 mm holes cut along lateral or medial margins of the eye to allow fixative to penetrate the vitreous humour) are cut in the eyes ~1-5 hours after they go into fix.  But glut is very good for most eye structures, although it tends to overharden the lens.  The very best retina fixation I have ever seen is with (real) Zenker's fixative.  The Zn Zenker substitutes I have seen are terrible for this application.

For most eye structures, Davidson's can work well.  Overfixing (more than 24 hours) can cause tissue swelling and overhardening.  But in a hospital setting, this may be just what would be needed.  There is more than one recipe for Davidson's I've seen over the years, some having been altered to better fix testes.  Check with the books to make sure you have the original recipe.

It will be interesting to hear what our hospital colleagues use for eyes.  I would guess most use 10% NBF.  And I am sure their pathologists say that this is just fine.

Good luck!

Joe Saby, BA HT


 



________________________________
From: "tahseen <@t> brain.net.pk" <tahseen <@t> brain.net.pk>
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Sent: Thu, June 10, 2010 12:53:22 AM
Subject: [Histonet] Ocular fiative

HI all,
We are using Alcoholic formalin fixative for ocular (Eye) specimens,
Reference Tech Sample (ASCP) HT-2(1995), since last 15 year without facing
any problem.
Now one of our pathologists (New joiner) wants to fix Ocular in 10%NBF.
I would lick to know how are doing others, and is there any comparison
between 10%NBF verses Alcoholic fixative for Ocular (Eye).
Thanks,
Muhammad Tahseen
Histology Supervisor
SKMCH&RC Lahore
Pakistan



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