We have had this issue previously. We tracked it down to the brain biopsies arriving in "Isotonic" saline (which is really not isotonic). See: Henwood, A., (2007) “Adverse effect of saline on brain intraoperative (frozen section) Histology” J Histotechnol 30(3):193.
Ask the surgeons to send the biopsies to the lab on damp shiny (non-absorbent) card. Regards Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC), FFSc(RCPA) Principal Scientist, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Adjunct Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney Tel: 612 9845 3306 Fax: 612 9845 3318 Pathology Department the children's hospital at westmead Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA ________________________________________ From: Manfre, Philip via Histonet <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Sent: Saturday, 17 July 2021 07:54 To: Bonello Dorianne M at Health-MDH; (histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu) Subject: Re: [Histonet] frozen section problem Hi Dorianne, You need to freeze your tissue faster. Ideally, isopentane placed in a metal cup, that is that is then frozen in a dewar of liquid nitrogen, works best. The isopentane, once frozen, is thawed a little with a metal rod to produce a small liquid pool and your tissue is placed in this for about one minute. You need some equipment for this procedure, such as the metal cup that can sit inside a small, open dewar of liquid nitrogen. Alternatively, you can freeze directly in liquid nitrogen, though you need to beware of the tissue fracturing due to the sudden and extreme temperature reduction. Slower freezing of tissue (sitting on dry ice, etc.) allows ice crystals to form in the tissue, creating the vacuoles you describe. I hope this helps. Phil. Philip Manfre, BA, HT (ASCP) Associate Principal Scientist Merck Research Laboratories WP81-406 770 Sumneytown Pike West Point, PA 19486 215-652-9750 philip_man...@merck.com -----Original Message----- From: Bonello Dorianne M at Health-MDH via Histonet <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 11:25 AM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] frozen section problem EXTERNAL EMAIL – Use caution with any links or file attachments. Dear all, We are experiencing freezing artifacts on our frozen sections. Basically, we are seeing cavity-like structures under the microscope, mostly elongated, especially when it's a frozen section on brain tissue. This is most probably happening due to ice crystal formation. We're not using cryospray, relying only on the cryobar boost function. Does anyone has a solution to this problem please? 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