Re: Breast Asp. Fluid

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From:Amos Brooks <atbrooks@snet.net>
To:Amy Self <AmyS@gmhsc.com>
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Hi,
    Are you doing smears or cell blocks with the cells in the button? If
you are preparing smears, have you tried a spray fixative (e.g.. Addam's
Spray Cyte, I think CMS has it)? The technique is easy, make the smear,
spray the slides lightly then air dry them (they are already fixed by
the spray, so your morphology will be fine). This leaves a gel like coat
on the slides that is removed with 95% alcohol.
	Also If you can get the specimens fresh (not in fixative) the smears
will adhere to the slide first then be fixed. rather than adhereing to
themselves in clumps making it more difficult to adhere to the glass.
Cells in a fluid last longer than cells in tissue because they are comfy
in their aqueous enviroment, everything they need is in solution for a
while.
    If it is a cell block you are having trouble with then try
rehydrating very slowly to water, the sections fell off fr me usually
when I got impatient with this step.
Amos Brooks

Amy Self wrote:

>         Help!   Does anyone out there know of a procedure for breast asp.
> fluids that will not take/wash off during staining.  It seems like everytime
> I do a cytology on breast fluid there in nothing on the slide for the
> Pathologist to read.  What am I doing wrong.   My fixative is 70% alcohol
> and I use postive charged slides.  I spin the fluid down and pour off the
> supernatent and use the button at the bottom for my cells and still nothing.
> Does anyone have any suggestions about anything that I could do different
> with these specimens??  Processing breast cyst fluids seems to be a process
> for me!
>
>                                         Thanks,
>                                               Amy




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