I agree with Joyce.  A little surface decal will work fine.  At the same time you have to keep in mind that decal on a bone marrow biopsy can give a false negative for iron a certain percentage (I think it was 30% in the study I saw) of the time.  That being said, if I am doing anything other than iron staining I usually use a little surface decal.

Stephen J. Scholz
Histology Coordinator
OSF St. Anthony Medical Center

-----Original Message-----
From:   Weems, Joyce [SMTP:JWEEMS@sjha.org]
Sent:   Wednesday, April 30, 2003 12:41 PM
To:     'Gomez, Milton'; histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject:        RE: Decalcify

After gently facing the block, soak in decal (surface decal) in a small
weigh boat with decal in it. There is a fine line between too much decal and
just right for sectioning, but this usually works for me.




Joyce Weems
Pathology Manager
Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta
404-851-7376
404-851-7831 - fax

 -----Original Message-----
From:   Gomez, Milton [mailto:Milton.Gomez@msnyuhealth.org]
Sent:   Wednesday, April 30, 2003 1:17 PM
To:     histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject:        Decalcify

Dear Histonetters:

I have a bone marrow core biopsy embedded in paraffin that needs to be
re-decalcified.  Any suggestions?

Thanks,
MG

New York University Medical Center
Hematopathology Department
212-263-5910(work)
212-263-7712(fax)