Stacy McLaughlin HT (ASCP) at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton MA asks:
>>My hospital will soon be starting parathyroid surgeries. Can anyone recommend a good ultra-sensitive scale for weighing them?<<

I asked this question several days ago, here and on the pathology
list, and got no responses. I've been researching the question today,
and I've found a balance that MAY be suitable.

What you need is a balance that will go up to about 100 grams, in
increments of 10 milligrams. (Normal parathyroids run a few tens of
milligrams, while adenomas can go well over a gram.)

I called Fisher Scientific customer service at 800-766-7000.
Their model S40152 (in the online catalog) has been replaced by their
S94792B. These balances are made for Fisher by Ohaus. The Fisher
representative said that the S94792B, also called the SLF 152, is a
simplified version of Ohaus's Ohaus Valor 3000 Xtreme V31XH202, which
costs about $400. Fisher sells the simpler model for $228. The Ohaus
customer service person (at 800-526-0659, 2, 1) wasn't familiar with
the balances Ohaus makes for Fisher.

Before you go buying anything, check if your hospital pharmacy still
has a balance. That's what I've always done with parathyroid adenomas
- not very frequent specimens - but these days a lot of small hospital
pharmacies no longer compound.

Can anyone else on Histonet weigh in (sorry about that!) with some
recommendations?

Bob Richmond
Samurai Pathologist
Knoxville TN

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