My understanding about muscle bx is that you MUST avoid freeze artifact at
all cost, for it mimics muscular degenerative disease. so I do not recommend
dry ice for it doesn't freeze fast enough. Find some other way to use
isopentane at he sight and as soon after bx is taken.

John T. Demirs B. A. HTL (ASCP)
Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine
Massachusetts General Hospital
Photopathology Dept. Edwards 214
15 Fruit St.
Boston Ma 02114
617-726-6984 phone
617-726-1206 fax

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	maria.doyle@ucd.ie [SMTP:maria.doyle@ucd.ie]
> Sent:	Monday, March 24, 2003 9:20 AM
> To:	histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
> Subject:	Liquid nitrogen problem
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> I am new to this work and if somebody could help me with this 
> problem I would be very grateful. 
> We are going to obtain skeletal muscle samples from surgery 
> which we want to use for immunohistochemistry and in situ 
> hybridization. We wanted to mount the muscle sample on cork in 
> OCT and freeze it in isopentane/ liquid nitrogen there at the 
> hospital. However there is no facility for getting liquid nitrogen at 
> the hospital and transporting it there would be difficult. My question 
> is would it be possible to freeze the muscle sample on dry ice, 
> transport it back to the lab and then freeze in isopentane/liquid 
> nitrogen? Could this sample still be used for immunohistochemistry 
> and in situ hybridization?
> 
> Thanks to anyone that can help!
> 
> Maria Doyle
> PhD Candidate
> University College Dublin,
> Ireland