We dry the control slide at the same time that we dry the tissue being stained, since controls are supposed to be handled in the same manner as the test tissue. That being said, I guess if we were truly following that rule, we would cut the control on the same day we cut the test sample. :-)
"Other people say that, after they dry the slide, they dip the slide in paraffin, to cover the tissue, so that the air doesn't touch the tissue during the months before the slide is used in a stain." -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Lee & Peggy Wenk Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 6:39 PM To: Amador, Amanda; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] Control Slides I've noticed that our spirochete control slides don't stain as intense starting about 3 months after they are sectioned, and that they stop staining by about 6 months. (This is with a silver stain.) I've talked with other histotechs, and they say they've seen the same phenomenon with AFB and Gram controls. (We use ours up too quickly - we never have 6-12 months old control slides for these, so I can't attest to this. ) Bancroft's book talks about this phenomenon with amyloid, and suggests that oxidation of the tissue (proteins) due to exposure to air may be the cause. I'm guessing the it probably applies to the precut microorganism control slides, too. We only cut enough slides for 6 months, and date them. Other people say they put their cut control slides in a slide box with a lid after drying, and then place the box in the refrig, as cold slows down the chemical change, and the lid keeps the moving air off the slide. Other people say that, after they dry the slide, they dip the slide in paraffin, to cover the tissue, so that the air doesn't touch the tissue during the months before the slide is used in a stain. Just 3 suggestions to stop this problem. Peggy A. Wenk, HTL(ASCP)SLS Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak, MI 48073 -------------------------------------------------- From: "Amador, Amanda" <aama...@ameripath.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 10:22 PM To: <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Subject: [Histonet] Control Slides > Is there guidelines for how long special stains controls are good for once > they are cut? We have spirochetes for our Steiner that is from 2007 and > we are having issues. > > Amanda Amador, HT(ASCP)CM > AmeriPath | Histology Group Lead/Trainer |2560 N Shadeland Ave, Suite A | > Indianapolis, IN 46219 | phone 317.275.8052 | > aama...@ameripath.com<mailto:aama...@ameripath.com> | > www.AmeriPath.com<http://www.ameripath.com/> > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet