Rita Riddle at Lexington [Kentucky?] Medical Center asks:

>>I need help with Bone Marrow. We have been using something called 
Decal-Stat for decaling [sic] bone marrow. Couple of our Dr. would like 
better detail in decaling. Could you please tell me what you use to decal 
your bone marrow and the process like length of time and etc.  We fix them in 
something called M-2 fixative.<<


First of all, find out what the products actually are, rather than letting 
them hide behind their trade names. What in the world is M-2 fixative? 

First of all, marrows need to be properly fixed, at least an hour and 
preferably longer. B-5 fixative is preferable, but if it's not practical for 
you, use neutral buffered formalin. Most people do use proprietary 
decalcifiers such as Decal (whose representative is a frequent contributor to 
Histonet) - don't use "decal" as a generic term for decalcifiying agents. 
Whatever decalcifier you use, you must remove the tissue from it promptly 
when decalcification is finished, or it will damage the tissue. Most 
decalcifiers will do a bone marrow core in less than an hour. Return the 
decalcified tissue to neutral buffered formalin or to alcohol.

Follow these directions and you'll get a block somebody can cut and stain a 
satisfactory section of.

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN