[Histonet] Re: CAP guideline for fixation time for ER/PR/HER2

[Bob Richmond]

Time of fixation before ER/PR/HER2:

I haven't had much luck with getting this information. Nobody wants to
deal with the communication issues.

Needle biopsy specimens should be popped into formalin as soon as they
are out of the patient, and the time recorded. What you can't find out
is whether they are willing to fix the specimens before they take the
time to X-ray them. Attempts to find out what they're doing are
futile.

To the OR nurse, a specimen is perfectly fixed all the way through the
instant she drops it into formalin, whether a small lumpectomy or a
Dolly-sized mammoon. Eventually we're going to have to realize that
larger specimens (more than needle biopsy size) require prompt
dissection before fixation, if special studies are to be done.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Maryville TN