[Histonet] GMS Question

[Paula Lucas]

Hello,

 

I think I already know the answer but I'm not sure why so if someone can
help me understand the theory behind it, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Currently, we use the Richard Allen kit for the GMS stain and it uses
Periodic Acid as the 1st step.  

We use a control tissue from a case we had that was positive for fungus and
it's a fungus ball from the Rt Maxillary. 

We ran a test for fungus on a different and current case of the same tissue
(different patient): Rt Maxillary sinus.

 

The control tissue did work, but the patient's tissue did not, so the doctor
ordered a PAS for fungus and this clearly showed the fungal elements nicely.


 

My question is why would the control and patient tissue have different
results when they are both fungus balls from the same specimen source?

 

Thanks in advance,

Paula

Lab Manager

Bio-Path Medical Group