Good Afternoon Listers, Thanks to all who answered my question about retention of unstained slides. I had several people weigh in on the topic and we have created an unstained slide policy based on their advice and the literature that was kindly sent to me.
The consensus is antigenicity degrades depending on storage conditions, among other things, which can lead to false negative results (antibody dependent - but not worth the risk). We now will keep unstained slides which have been stored at room temperature no longer than 12 weeks. One really good suggestion that will are implementing is if a pathologist wants the slides kept longer than 12 weeks, they get to keep the slides in their possession. We will enter a note in our LIS stating who has the unstained slides. The wisdom of my electronic colleagues comes through once again. 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. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet