We receive our lumpectomies and total breasts fresh. They are immediately put in 10 % formalin if no frozen is required and that time is noted on our requisition. Our processing time for formalin and the fixation time is made part of the final report. If we receive a breast biopsy specimen we have asked that they write the time on the requistion that the specimen was placed in 10 % formalin. We set up a procedure that states this.
Beatrice Sullivan, HT(A.S.C.P.) HTL , AAS, CLSP(N.C.A.) AP Supervisor Shore Memorial Hospital 609-653-3590 Speak only well of people and you need never whisper "Paula Lucas" <plucas@biopath.o rg> To Sent by: <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> histonet-bounces@ cc lists.utsouthwest ern.edu Subject [Histonet] Her2 Fixation Requirement 02/02/2011 12:11 PM Hello histoland I was just given the task to find a solution that is easy and will also comply with the CAP guideline for formalin fixation documentation, and so I started my research on the Histonet archives. I found some good information, but was hoping to get more feedback. Would you mind sharing with me the actions you are taking to comply with the guideline? We are a private lab and we provide histology/pathology service for 2 hospitals and a few surgery centers. We send our blocks to Genzyme for Her2, and we must document on their test order sheet how many hours the tissues have been fixed in formalin. I'm assuming I will need to start keeping a log here, with documentation that shows what time the tissue was excised and placed in formalin from the OR, and then documentation that shows the time it was dissected and then placed in the tissue processor. The problem that I may come across is getting the OR nurse to document the time for us. I don't know...maybe we need to put another sections on our requisition form, or maybe something on the formalin container itself for the nurse to write on. It'll be a hassle at first but if I can get the hospitals lab director involved, I'm sure it will work itself out. Anyway, if you wouldn't mind sharing some of your ideas, I would really appreciate it. Paula Lucas Lab Manager Bio-Path Medical Group Fountain Valley, CA _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet