[Histonet] Re: Thrombin for cell block preparations

[Bob Richmond]

Laurie Best, Histology Supervisor at Sunrise Medical Labs, Hicksville NY asks:

>>I am trying to purchase thrombin for cell block preparation, and have been running into dead ends. Can someone give me their vendor information?<<

I know about using thrombin to clot plasma to form cytopathologists'
cell blocks, but have never seen it done, and don't know a source.

In the many labs I've worked in, I've found that cell block methods
and results vary greatly from lab to lab, from labs that don't do them
at all, to labs that do them routinely on pleural and peritoneal
fluids with uniformly good results. If I were setting up a procedure,
I'd probably try the commercial agar preparation Histogel.

Cell blocks are a necessary cytologic preparation, the more so as the
use of immunohistochemistry increases.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Maryville TN