[Histonet] prostate trimming protocol

[Contact HistoCare]

Good morning all,

Could someone with more knowledge in this matter than I have help shed a little light?

While at a nationally-renowned medical facility, I've come across something rather interesting (to me) for which no one in the immediate lab has a definitive answer for.

I see varying trimming(or grossing) techniques by the residents. I'm told that it's very common to have poorly grossed tissue submitted regularly whenever a new group comes through, but nothing is done to correct it.

It runs the gamut from non-decalcified bone, or humongous chunks of tissue that barely fits in the cassette but has to be nearly shoved into the mold, and tissue that's >5mm, seriously.

This time, it's prostate tissue. I've been places where maybe 3 or 4 sections were submitted from the area of interest and maybe a sample of normal tissue just for differentiation. But here, it's common to receive anywhere from 30 to 50 cassettes from the same site. I'm guessing they don't want to discard ANY tissue. 

What's interesting is some of this is submitted as a bunch of very tiny slivers in some cassettes and then nickel and quarter-sized chunks from the same site in others.

Has anyone else seen prostate submitted this way? Is there a rhyme or reason that I'm not aware of?

Thanks

M


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