Hi Paula, One of my pathologists thinks it could be the collagen in the tissues making them difficult to cut. We have tried nair, fabric softener, and even decaling the tissues and nothing helps. The tissues shred immediately when trying to section making it impossible in some cases to actually get a slide. When I melted a particularly difficult block down to separate out the different tissues, it turned out to be the lymph node that was the worst.
We are going to try some of the cream you use to soften scar tissues to see if that has any effect. As a veterinary histology lab we routinely work on a variety of different species, and so far the elephant tissue is the only one giving us problems. Thanks for everyone’s help, Jennifer From: P Sicurello <pat...@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 5, 2018 4:46 PM To: Jennifer Phinney <jh...@vet.k-state.edu> Cc: HistoNet <Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Subject: Re: [Histonet] Elephant Tissues Jennifer, I have worked on mouse, rat, rabbit, sea lion, harbor seal, killer whale, giraffe, and even human mummy tissues. With the exception of the mummy tissue being a bit dry, they all embedded and cut like human tissue. What is it that is making them hard to cut? Sincerely, Paula Sicurello, HTL (ASCP)CM Histotechnology Specialist UC San Diego Health 200 Arbor Drive San Diego, CA 92103 (P): 619-543-2872 Confidentiality Notice: The information transmitted in this e-mail is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this e-mail in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. On Wed, Sep 5, 2018 at 10:38 AM Jennifer Phinney via Histonet <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu<mailto:histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu>> wrote: Hello Histonetters, Does anyone have experience processing and cutting elephant tissues? Any tips, tricks, or advice? My lab has had some elephant cases recently and the tissues are unexpectedly (to us) difficult to cut. Thanks for any help, Jennifer Phinney QIHC Kansas State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu<mailto: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
