[Histonet] Sakura Pre-Processing Fixative (7117) for X120 Processors

[Jonathan Jennings]

Hello All,

I manage a histology  Dermpath lab  (We only process skins) and we use Sakura X120 Processors. We have been doing excellent with the use of our x120 processors that allowed use to have slides on the Pathologist desk within 5 hours from the time we received the specimens.  That said, there is always room for improvement!  As anyone who uses the Sakura x120 Xpress processors know, all of the solutions and reagents required are "proprietary" so I don't know exactly what is in them.  To top that off, we bought the processors from a 3rd party vendor, so Sakura isn't too quick to come out and help me with this.  All of That noted, the reason I am sending this email is because I want to incorporate the pre-processing fixative because the specimens we receive in the afternoon haven't been in formalin as long (3-5 hours) as the specimens that we receive by mail in the morning (in formalin for 18+ hours).  Our preprocessing solution is working ok, but I read in the user manual about  preprocessing fixative that should be used instead, if the specimens were not completely fixed before processing.

Here are a few details of our current processing workflow with only using preprocessing solution.

*         When grossing we have 3 small stirring hot plates set at 38 Celsius. Each stir plate described below

o   1  for the 0.2 or < Biopsies filled with 10% NBF prior to  preprocessing solution for 15 minutes then processed on standard (1 hour program)

o   1  for the 0.3 or >  Biopsies Filled with Statfix (statlab) Must be in statfix. Cassettes must be in for at least 30 minutes prior to preprocessing solution (30 minutes) Then Placed on the processor (Extended - 2 hour program)

o   1 for the excisions, Cyst and all other fatty skin specimens, filled with statfix  Cassettes must be in for at least 1 hour prior to preprocessing solution (30 minutes)  The placed on processor (Extended - 2 hour program)

I tried the preprocessing fixative (no heat, just stirring agitation) on test excisions and it definitely made the tissue more firm, (almost too hard) for 30 minutes.  We had to use preprocessing solution for 1 hour on excisions, so that is a 30 minute improvement.  It also turned the tissue yellow, which was weird.  Before I try to test more tissue, I wanted to see if anyone else has went through the same preprocessing fixative testing with skins.

Questions  Finally! ;)

*         Does anyone use the preprocessing fixative for skin specimens and would you mind giving me some insight/advice on how to incorporate?

*         Is it ok to incorporate any heat to the preprocessing solution or preprocessing fixative to speed up processing time?

*         Does the preprocessing fixative affect IHCs any differently than the preprocessing solution?

*         Does anyone have any comments/ideas about my inquiry?

I apologize for the lengthy post.  Thank you for taking the time to read it.  I hope everyone has a blessed day!




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