A quality check can be accomplished in 2 places. It can be done at cutting, but it should already be being done and it doesn't seem to be working. Ideally, the stained H&E should be checked against the block face as it is pulled from the coverslipper to be given to the pathologist. Then it can be handed immediately to the tech that made the original error to "do over" Also, a common excuse will be "it was embedded poorly". The answer to that is that it is the cutting tech's responsibility to hand back a poorly embedded block for it to be re-embedded if they feel that they can't get a representation section. Remember, it could also be poorly cut gross, too. Then you can nip it in the bud before the slide reaches the pathologist, and you can quickly identify who is turning out inferior sections and counsel them appropriately if needed. Hope this helps. Terri
Terri L. Braud, HT(ASCP) Anatomic Pathology Supervisor Laboratory Holy Redeemer Hospital 1648 Huntingdon Pike Meadowbrook, PA 19046 ph: 215-938-3689 fax: 215-938-3874 Care, Comfort, and Heal -----Original Message----- From: histonet-requ...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-requ...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2020 1:00 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Histonet Digest, Vol 196, Issue 2 CAUTION: This is an EXTERNAL EMAIL. Stop and think before clicking links or opening attachments. Send Histonet mailing list submissions to histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to histonet-requ...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu You can reach the person managing the list at histonet-ow...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Histonet digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks (Amy Self) 2. Re: Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks (John Garratt) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2020 15:31:59 +0000 From: Amy Self <as...@tidelandshealth.org> To: "histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu" <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Subject: [Histonet] Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks Message-ID: <bn6pr22mb04174cd9b05249ba90640c6ea7...@bn6pr22mb0417.namprd22.prod.outlook.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Good Morning HistoNetters, I am reaching out to the histonet in hopes to get some suggestions from you on how to handle incomplete cross-sections of tissue in blocks. We are a small lab so this has not been an issue in the past but now that we are growing and our staff has increased I am getting feed-back from pathologist that the sections of tissue are not complete. They are asking for too many deepers that possibly could be avoided if it was cut deep enough to begin with. I have been given some managerial type duties ? which I don?t like cause I know nothing about managing people and I need to approach this but I need to approach this issue correctly. Do you have the histotech compare his/her cut slides to the block to make sure that a complete cross-section is obtained and is this documented somehow? Any and all suggestions I need. Thanks in advance for your help and as always you all rock.. ? Amy Self Histology Lab Senior Tech Lab Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital 606 Black River Road Georgetown, SC 29440 (843) 520-8711 as...@tidelandshealth.org Our mission: We help people live better lives through better health. NOTE: The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Tue, 03 Mar 2020 17:01:55 +0000 From: John Garratt <john.garr...@ciqc.ca> To: Amy Self <as...@tidelandshealth.org>, "histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu" <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> Subject: Re: [Histonet] Incomplete cross sections of all tissue in blocks Message-ID: <mGHnLlNm_3Hr6mH722tLqAC6WNZSLN4Edp_QEyAVOFQmzoqGnM9oE5UkqeEisOmQSjqmbadpI0lkptTXUpAPJkVoCRJwT2N6R4X8Qq7BeEA=@ciqc.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 I suggest that each histotech is responsible for the blocks they cut and they cut the deepers on the their own blocks when they are requested. With feedback on the reason for the deeper from the pathologists they (the techs) will become more confident and learn how deep to cut. John On Tue, Mar 3, 2020 at 7:31 AM, Amy Self via Histonet <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote: > Good Morning HistoNetters, > > I am reaching out to the histonet in hopes to get some suggestions from you > on how to handle incomplete cross-sections of tissue in blocks. We are a > small lab so this has not been an issue in the past but now that we are > growing and our staff has increased I am getting feed-back from pathologist > that the sections of tissue are not complete. They are asking for too many > deepers that possibly could be avoided if it was cut deep enough to begin > with. I have been given some managerial type duties ? which I don?t like > cause I know nothing about managing people and I need to approach this but I > need to approach this issue correctly. Do you have the histotech compare > his/her cut slides to the block to make sure that a complete cross-section is > obtained and is this documented somehow? Any and all suggestions I need. > > Thanks in advance for your help and as always you all rock.. ? > > Amy Self > Histology Lab Senior Tech > Lab > Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital > 606 Black River Road > Georgetown, SC 29440 > (843) 520-8711 > as...@tidelandshealth.org > Our mission: We help people live better lives through better health. > > NOTE: > The information contained in this message may be privileged, confidential and > protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended > recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to > the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, > distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you > have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by > replying to this message and deleting it from your computer. > Thank you. > _______________________________________________ > Histonet mailing list > Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu > http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ------------------------------ End of Histonet Digest, Vol 196, Issue 2 **************************************** _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet