[Histonet] Warm formalin

Hello everyone! We have a referring clinician that is concerned about leaving his specimens in an outdoor lockbox in the summer because the formalin will get hot. I don't think that having some specimens in formalin in hot weather would cause any problems but I can't find any references one wa

Re: [Histonet] New lab set up

Hi Vanessa! It's funny that you asked this question because we were just talking about this a few days ago in my lab. Our tables are low and we all sit. We were discussing that we would like to have higher tables so that we could have the option to stand or sit on a higher chair. Since we ar

[Histonet] Stain consulting services

Good morning all! We are having a problem with our H&E. My chief pathologist believes that we have day to day variations in intensity as well as variations from slide to slide (even within a rack), and that the hematoxylin gets darker as the week goes on. We use 2 automated Sakura Prisma str

[Histonet] ROS1

Good morning histoland! Has anyone had success with the ROS1 antibody from CellSignaling? I just can't seem to get it working beyond what our pathologist call "a faint blush". I would greatly appreciate if you would be wiling to share your protocol! Have a lovely Monday! Erin Erin Martin

[Histonet] Workload tracking

Hello all, Would anyone be willing to share how they track workload? Spreadsheet? Database? Our volume has recently increased and I am looking for a way to track individual output so that I can distribute work and rotate tasks fairly. I don't want to have my "fast" people going out with repet

[Histonet] HHV-8

Good morning histonetters! I'm looking for a new source for HHV-8 (KSV), clone 13B10, antibody. CellMarque's is no longer IVD, nor is Ventana. Does anyone have a suggestion? Thank you! Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology and Oral Pathology Service 1701 Divisadero St, S

[Histonet] Leishmaniasis ctrl

Hi all, Does anyone know of a source for a Leishmaniasis control block or control slides for IHC? Thanks in advance! Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology and Oral Pathology Service 1701 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94044 415-353-7248 Confidentiality Notice The inf

[Histonet] Vacuolated and torn?

Good morning everyone! One of my pathologists says that we are having a problem with the tissue on the slides looking vacuolated and torn. He is convinced it is from microtomy. Anyone have any ideas? I was thinking that it might be a processing issue. Thanks in advance! Erin Martin, Histo

[Histonet] Santa Cruz antibodies

Hi all! Santa Cruz Biotech has to discontinue all goat and rabbit antibody production: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2016/05/23/trouble-at-santa-cruz-biotechnology I hope you are all having a great Tuesday! Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology a

[Histonet] Cryostat sectioning of FF lymph node

Good morning! My pathologists would like us to cut formalin fixed (not yet processed) tonsil tissue on a cryostat for DIF staining. Has anyone done this? I did a quick search that seemed to indicate that it was possible but that the architecture of the cells would be altered because of ice cr

[Histonet] Re: Old slides

Hi Bernice! A 1:1 acetone xylene solution does indeed dissolve the plastic film Sakura coverslip. No need to buy any book. The old - 1990's - film coverslips had a problem (that I believe Sakura has corrected) which caused the coverslip to lift off the slide and take the tissue with it.

[Histonet] Re: Block counts

Good morning! I agree with some of the other comments - "per day" is too variable because of tissue type, overall volume, etc. We use hourly average to try to keep everyone in the same range but still leave room for individual abilities. Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Derma

[Histonet] Lab power failures

Good morning all! Would anyone mind sharing their plans for power failure? We have backup generator power on red plugs but my pathologists want a plan for what we would do if the power went out AND the backup generator failed. Thanks for your help! Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor

[Histonet] Re: Rubber mats for pinning specimens

We don't have a need to pin where I currently work but at past labs I have used flat pieces of foam, like the lids from cooler boxes that used to ship reagents that are temperature sensitive. You can cut them to fit whatever container you are going to use to fix the specimen. Place a few paper

[Histonet] DAB for hemoglobin?

Good morning all, I posted yesterday regarding the use of benzidine for the detection of hemoglobin. My pathologist believes that standard DAB can be used instead of benzidine solution but I can't find any references for using DAB as a hemoglobin stain. Do any of you fine histo folks do thi

[Histonet] Hemoglobin stain

ely. Does anyone have a protocol that might give the same results? Thank you, Erin Martin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology Service 415-353-7248 Am J Dermatopathol. 1995 Aug;17(4):362-7. Benzidine stain for the histochemical detection of hemoglobin in splinter

[Histonet] Negative Controls

requirements and therefore still want to see negative controls. Has anyone by inspected recently by TJC and had this issue come up? Thank you! Erin Martin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology Service 415-353-7248 Confidentiality Notice The information transmitted is intended

[Histonet] Re: Bunsen Burner

No open flames. Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology Service 415-353-7248 Confidentiality Notice The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or priviledged material. Any review, retransmis

[Histonet] Cutting Nails

We use a 50% solution of Nair in water to soak nail blocks after we have faced into them. Then albumin to keep them on the slides. Works great! Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology Service 415-353-7248 Confidentiality Notice The information transmitted is intended only fo

[Histonet] (no subject)

Good morning all! One of our fellows emailed me a question that she came across while studying for her boards: "I'm studying for my board exam and came across questions re: paraffin embedding. It reads: best temperature for paraffin embedding is 38-48 48-58 58-70. I am getting some info on In

[Histonet] Re: p63 Vendor

Happy Monday! We get ours from BioCare. -Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Dermatopathology Service 415-353-7248 Confidentiality Notice The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or priviledged

[Histonet] IF on FFPE

Hi everyone, Several people have contacted me regarding the article I mentioned in my post yesterday. Here are the details: Immunofluorescence With Dual Microwave Retrieval of Paraffin-Embedded Sections in the Assessment of Human Renal Biopsy Specimens AJCP 2013 139:71-78; doi:10.1309/AJCPRZ

[Histonet] Immunofluorescence on FFPE skin

Hello all, My pathologist gave me a copy of "Immunofluorescence with Dual Microwave Retrieval of Paraffin-Embedded Sections in the Assessment of Human Renal Biopsy Specimens" from the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. He said that the same principle should work on skin and he would lik

[Histonet] Xylene free processing

Hi, We have been processing xylene free for a couple of years in ThermoFisher Excelsior processors. The tissue goes directly from isopropyl alcohol to paraffin. It works well for us. We sought out a xylene free protocol to reduce the amount of xylene in the lab. We do need to use xylene

[Histonet] Microwave processors

Hi histonetters! Our pathologists want to turn around skin biopsies same day and are again looking at microwave processors. Due to a bad past experience, I'm not enthused but perhaps there is someone out there who loves their microwave processor? Even on derm? Or has anyone worked out a good

[Histonet] re: xylene substitute for processing

We have been processing without xylene on ThermoFisher Excelsior processors for a couple of years. We go directly from 100% isopropyl alcohol into paraffin. A thermo sales rep should be able to give you some literature on this. When we first got the processors we did side by side validation

[Histonet] MCP antibody?

Good morning everyone, Does anyone use MCP antibody (Merkel Cell Polyoma Virus) from a vendor other than Santa Cruz Biotech? If so, would you please let me know your source? Thank you! Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Department of Dermatopathology 415-353-7248

[Histonet] ASR FISH probes

Hi all, More questions on FISH. How does one go about validating an ASR probe on FFPE tissue? I have no FISH experience and therefore am starting from scratch. The specific probes that our pathologists are interested in are: t(14;18), t(17;22) and t(2;5). Also, does anyone know what ed

[Histonet] BAP1 from Santa Cruz Biotech

Hello all, Does anyone have a working non-Ventana protocol for this antibody? We need Dako. We got it working at 1:100, HIER in Dako pH9, antibody incubate 30 min, Envision Dual Link 30 min but the researcher who wants it says that it produces uneven staining on the test tissue. She wants it

[Histonet] Microm 355S

Good morning! We are having a lot of trouble with one of our Microm 355S microtomes. It advances forward at random times so that it ends up chunking into the block. The first time we had a repair person in, he was skeptical that it was moving on its own - until it did it to him! Since then,

[Histonet] Re: Failed water test

Hi, In our lab, the water is tested every 6 months. If it fails, we disinfect the DI dispenser (to rule out that the nozzle was contaminated) and resubmit a sample to micro. If it fails second time we would would contact the vendor to figure out what the problem is - we've never had to go tha

[Histonet] PAS for basement membrane

Hi all, I'm having a problem with my PAS stain. My pathologist says that glycogen and fungus stain beautifully but basement membranes are pale. We are using 0.5% periodic acid for 10 minutes and schiff's for 25 minutes followed by 5 min rinse in warm/hot water. Any thoughts? Thank you in ad

[Histonet] Waste down the drain

cal regulatory agency, which would make it easier for them to give you guidance. Erin Martin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Department of Dermatopathology 415-353-7248 ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.uts

[Histonet] Fontana

Hello everone, We recently stained about 20 slides with Fontana for a research project. They were all fine except for 3 or 4 slides on which the pathologist says that the stratum corneum is overstained. The rest of the tissue is fine but that layer is too black. Now I have to fix the problem.

[Histonet] Freezing spray artifact

Has anyone run into a problem or artifact from freezing spray? I think we may be having a problem with it but I can't find any pictures or descriptions of what it looks like. Thanks in advance, Erin Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor UCSF Department of Dermatopathology 415-353-7248 ___

Re: [Histonet] Are Histotechs considered "exempt" employees?

I agree with Karen about a decent pay scale for California - $16.15 is a ridiculous wage for California. Although San Francisco is on the high end because of our insanely high cost of living (San Francisco even has it's own minimum wage of $9.75/hr), $16.15 seems horribly low for anywhere in th

[Histonet] Processing problem

Hi everyone, We are having a problem with a processing artifact that looks like very pale staining in splotches just above the junction between the epidermis and dermis but not extending all the way to the skin surface, and not everywhere at the position. One of the processors had a clog in a

[Histonet] Toenails

Hi, We keep ours on by using egg albumin (from American Master Tech). Brush some on the slide, let it air dry then pick up your sections. It will hold through PASD as well as H&E. Good luck! Erin PS A 1:4 Nair solution softens the block up nicely after you face it in. Erin Martin, Histology

[Histonet] Alcohol fixation and immuno

Good morning everyone, We occasionally receive specimens that were fixed in alcohol but processed on our machine, which starts in formalin. In our typical antigen retrieval we either use a 95 degree waterbath for an hour or enzyme for 5 minutes. On alcohol fixed tissues this chews up the tissu

[Histonet] SOX10

Hi, Would anyone using SOX10 antibody please tell me where they buy it? If you have a procedure that you would be willing to share as well I would be very appreciative. Thank you! Erin Martin UCSF Dermatopathology ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet

[Histonet] Formalin storage

We too were told by our internal safety compliance officer that 10% NBF has to be stored in flammable cabinets and that is now how we store it. We were also told that our general purpose household bleach has to be in a flammable cabinet Erin Martin UCSF Dermatopathology __

[Histonet] Intellipath LIS

Hi everyone, Are any of you using the Intellipath LIS? Not the Intellipath stainer from Biocare. If so, I have some questions on how you use the procedures report to get your orders. Thanks! Erin Martin UCSF Dermatopathology ___ Histonet mailing li

[Histonet] Microwave processors, again

Hi all, >From the responses I have received, almost everyone loves their microwave >processors for soft tissue biospies. Is anyone using a microwave on derm? Erin ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwest

[Histonet] Microwave processors

Hi all, What experiences have you all had with microwave processors? Sakura? Milestone? We're trying to figure something our. I know there will be some passionate responses...And I look forward to them! Thanks so much, Erin Martin, HT ___ Hist

RE: [Histonet] Slide drying

Hi Jeanine, What are spacer coils? I don't think I've ever heard of them. Thanks, Erin Martin UCSF Dermatopathology From: Bartlett, Jeanine (CDC/CCID/NCZVED) [mailto:j...@cdc.gov] Sent: Mon 12/22/2008 11:29 AM To: Martin, Erin; histonet S

RE: [Histonet] Slide drying

[mailto:m...@pathview.com] Sent: Mon 12/22/2008 11:36 AM To: Martin, Erin Subject: RE: [Histonet] Slide drying Erin, may I ask why your doctors want them filed so quickly? Michael Mihalik PathView Systems | cell: 214.733.7688 | 800.798.3540 | fax: 270.423.0968 -Original Message- From:

[Histonet] Slide drying

Hello everyone, I was asked to find out how to dry slides quickly. They are glass coverslipped in an automated coverslipper at the reference lab we use and the our docs want them filed in less than 12 hours from the time they are coverslipped. We have been putting them in a 125 degree C con

[Histonet] NGF p75

Good morning, Does anyone know of a source for antibody NGF p75 other than Chemicon/Millipore? The last few lots we have gotten from them have been dramatically weaker so I'd like to find a new vendor. Thanks! Erin ___ Histonet mailing list Histo