[Histonet] Incomplete sectioning

Tue Mar 3 14:46:17 CST 2020

A quality check can be accomplished in 2 places.  It can be done at cutting, but it should already be being done and it doesn't seem to be working.
Ideally, the stained H&E should be checked against the block face as it is pulled from the coverslipper to be given to the pathologist. Then it can be handed immediately to the tech that made the original error to  "do over"
Also, a common excuse will be "it was embedded poorly".  The answer to that is that it is the cutting tech's responsibility to hand back a poorly embedded block for it to be re-embedded if they feel that they can't get a representation section.
Remember, it could also be poorly cut gross, too.
Then you can nip it in the bud before the slide reaches the pathologist, and you can quickly identify who is turning out inferior sections and counsel them appropriately if needed.
Hope this helps. Terri

Terri L. Braud, HT(ASCP)
Anatomic Pathology Supervisor
Laboratory
Holy Redeemer Hospital
1648 Huntingdon Pike
Meadowbrook, PA 19046
ph: 215-938-3689
fax: 215-938-3874
Care, Comfort, and Heal

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Today's Topics:

   1. Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks (Amy Self)
   2. Re: Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks
      (John Garratt)

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 15:31:59 +0000
From: Amy Self <ASelf at tidelandshealth.org>
To: "histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu"
	<histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: [Histonet] Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks
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Good Morning HistoNetters,

I am reaching out to the histonet in hopes to get some suggestions from you on how to handle incomplete cross-sections of tissue in blocks. We are a small lab so this has not been an issue in the past but now that we are growing and our staff has increased I am getting feed-back from pathologist that the sections of tissue are not complete. They are asking for too many deepers that possibly could be avoided if it was cut deep enough to begin with. I have been given some managerial type duties ? which I don?t like cause I know nothing about managing people and I need to approach this but I need to approach this issue correctly.  Do you have the histotech compare his/her cut slides to the block to make sure that a complete cross-section is obtained and is this documented somehow?  Any and all suggestions I need.

Thanks in advance for your help and as always you all rock.. ?

Amy Self
Histology Lab Senior Tech
Lab
Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital
606 Black River Road
Georgetown, SC 29440
(843) 520-8711
ASelf at tidelandshealth.org
Our mission:  We help people live better lives through better health.

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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2020 17:01:55 +0000
From: John Garratt <john.garratt at ciqc.ca>
To: Amy Self <ASelf at tidelandshealth.org>,
	"histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu"
	<histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in
	blocks
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I suggest that each histotech is responsible for the blocks they cut and they cut the deepers on the their own blocks when they are requested. With feedback on the reason for the deeper from the pathologists they (the techs) will become more confident and learn how deep to cut.

John

On Tue, Mar 3, 2020 at 7:31 AM, Amy Self via Histonet <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote:

> Good Morning HistoNetters,
>
> I am reaching out to the histonet in hopes to get some suggestions from you on how to handle incomplete cross-sections of tissue in blocks. We are a small lab so this has not been an issue in the past but now that we are growing and our staff has increased I am getting feed-back from pathologist that the sections of tissue are not complete. They are asking for too many deepers that possibly could be avoided if it was cut deep enough to begin with. I have been given some managerial type duties ? which I don?t like cause I know nothing about managing people and I need to approach this but I need to approach this issue correctly. Do you have the histotech compare his/her cut slides to the block to make sure that a complete cross-section is obtained and is this documented somehow? Any and all suggestions I need.
>
> Thanks in advance for your help and as always you all rock.. ?
>
> Amy Self
> Histology Lab Senior Tech
> Lab
> Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital
> 606 Black River Road
> Georgetown, SC 29440
> (843) 520-8711
> ASelf at tidelandshealth.org
> Our mission: We help people live better lives through better health.
>
> NOTE:
> The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer.
> Thank you.
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

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