Re: AFB's

From:Amos Brooks

Ok,
    Maybe this is a dumb question, but do you reuse your carbol fuchesin, and if you do, how often do you filter or dump it? It is feasible that the solution itself is contaminated and this could be getting on the slides. Also make sure the slides are washed ** well ** in water before differentiating (the water will not bleach out the carbol fuchesin so let it run). I have seen the dye start to precipitate and if this gets on the slides sometimes it resembles a bug.
    See to it also that the waterbath is clean during sectioning too. I have heard of this causing problems too. If you're doing all this you should be fine and for the moment I'm out of ideas.
Amos Brooks
----- Original Message -----
From: Noreen Gilman
To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2002 1:49 PM
Subject: AFB's

Hello everyone in histoland.  I've got an unusual problem and I hope you guys can help me.
My pathologist claims that when we do an AFB, some of the bacillus from the positive control "jumps" onto the patient slide and contaminates it. He claims he sees stray bacillus on the slides surrounding the control tissue, and he thinks he see them on the patient slide as well. I have tried several ways of doing this stain and at first thought the tubing on our sink was contaminated. We changed the tubing and used only distilled water, and he still insists they are there.  I have never had a problem like this before. I'm at my wits end. Any suggestion are very welcome.
Noreen
 
Noreen S. Gilman, HT (ASCP) CLS
Broward General Medical Center
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 3316
954-355-5592 Phone
954-355-4139 Fax
ngilman@nbhd.org

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