As much as I respect Dr. Richmond, I would have to disagree that staining bx's with eosin is a waste of pathologist time. It helps the embedding tech and cutting tech see the minute pieces, which may be otherwise lost. Sometimes that is the diagnostic material. We would not want to put a patient through another procedure because we couldn't recover the tissue submitted. We use a vial with a dropper. Once the biopsy is placed in the cassette you take 1 second more to drop a drop of eosin on the specimen. Well worth everyone's time in my humble opinion.
Debbie M. Boyd, HT(ASCP) l Chief Histologist l Southside Regional Medical Center I 200 Medical Park Boulevard l Petersburg, Va. 23805 l T: 804-765-5050 l F: 804-765-5582 l dkb...@chs.net Robert Richmond <rsrichm...@gmail.com> Sent by: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu 10/22/2010 10:44 AM To histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu cc Subject [Histonet] Re: Eosin to dye small Biopsies Allison Scott at LBJ Hospital in Houston, Texas asks about the use of eosin to dye small biopsy specimens. Several replies mention addition of eosin to one of the processing alcohols. I have never seen this done, in maybe 60 pathology services I've worked in. (I'd know, because I nearly always examine the paraffin block when I order recuts or send a case out for consultation.) It's a fine time-waster for the pathologist to mark small specimens with dye while grossing. I've used Mercurochrome (merbromin, related to eosin but with 26% mercury) which fortunately was banned in the USA about ten years ago. I've used eosin, and I've used safranin (from the microbiology lab's Gram stain setup). I don't know whether safranin interferes with FISH, as eosin is well known to, nor do I know if you can put safranin in the processing alcohol. And I've used Davidson tissue marking inks. I've never seen or heard of cobalt blue used for this purpose - is this the insoluble coloring material, chemically cobalt aluminate? Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Knoxville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This electronic message may contain information that is Proprietary, Confidential, or legally privileged or protected. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and entity named in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information it contains. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet