Date sent:      	Mon, 29 May 2000 14:00:00 +0100
From:           	Buttigieg Carmen at MOH <carmen.a.buttigieg@magnet.mt>
Subject:        	Bone Marrow Trephines
To:             	histonet@pathology.swmed.edu

> Dear Histonetters
> 
> I need your help!
> 
> We routinely receive bone marrow trephines which are quite boney. We usually 
> decalcify in EDTA but sometimes the endpoint is overshot and the cellular 
> structures are ruined. We do not have a resin set-up, we process everything to 
> paraffin. We do not have an x-ray set-up either.


Carmen,
 I am surprised that your EDTA is giving you problems with over-
decalcification (check your recipe). The whole point of using this 
chelating agent is that it is gentle and controllable, ideal for 
research but not if you are in a hurry. I have left boney tissue in 
EDTA for 8-10 weeks with no effect on subsequent staining. When 
I used to look at BM trephines we would bisect, half into 10%formic 
acid in 10% sodium citrate for 24-48 hours then into paraffin, the 
other half into resin (undecalcified).
Terry.