Clemson Tiger Fran Pearsall asks: >>Can anyone tell me what kind (or size) glass filter to use to perform Puchtler's Congo Red? And are the filters re-useable?<<
I suppose you refer to polarization, necessary to examine a Congo red stain for amyloid. Your microscope needs a polarizer, preferably a full wave plate (first order plate) system. Many pathologists don't have these on their microscopes. Your urine lab across the hall has one, though you'll probably have to spend five minutes cleaning and aligning the microscope. You should know how to evaluate your positive control, particularly if your pathologist doesn't know how. The most common positive control available in a surgical pathology lab is a medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. Most (but not all) of these contain some amyloid. I've asked this question many times over the years and never received a glimmer of an answer: amyloid is rather easily produced experimentally in mice. Is this material commercially available, and is it permitted for use as an amyloid control? Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet