[Histonet] Re: Grossing rules

[Bob Richmond]

Amber McKenzie asks: >>Are there any guidelines on how to do GI
grossing? At what size to you bisect? Do you call 5 or more pieces
multiple or do you count all the pieces? How many categories are
there: 1, 2, 3, several, multiple, etc.? At what size is it considered
a fragment and what size is a polyp?<<

This is very poorly standardized, and basically I can tell you my own
practice. I bisect polyps 4 mm in size or greater - that's about as
steady as my hands are. I count all the pieces up to about 10. I don't
understand the question about categories. It's a polyp if it looks
like a polyp.

I don't measure specimens of ordinary size, since I cannot do it
accurately. I'll sometimes refer to "a single quite small specimen."

Examples of dictation:
1234. Received in fixative labeled "John Doe" and "duodenum" is a
single biopsy specimen submitted in cassette A.
2345. Received in fixative labeled "Mary Doe" and "esophagus" are four
biopsy specimens submitted together in cassette A.
3456. Received in fixative labeled "John Roe" and "transverse colon"
is a single 5 mm dull red polyp with a very short stalk, divided
longitudinally into two pieces, and entirely submitted in cassette A.

As I said, that's just what I do when I gross for myself.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN
Received in fixative is a single biopsy specimen submitted in cassette A.