This is just a thought - could you not stain a free floating section 
that you would then pick up on a slide? Would need a little 
tweaking perhaps. I recall cutting frozen sections  on fixed tissue 
that I floated in a waterbath and used a "hockey-stick" ( a glass 
pasteur pipette heated in the bunsen till the end was rounded and 
bent) to tease out the section. Any one still doing this method?

Louise

On 29 Oct 01, at 15:18, ANN MARUSKA wrote:

> Hi Histonetters,
> 
> Thank you for all your suggestions on helping me get the tissue to
> stay on.
> 
> After discussing this with a few knowledgeable people, we have come to
> the conclusion that it is the patient's tissue causing this problem. 
> The patient has been diagnosed with a fibromyxoid sarcoma.  This
> myxoid tissue does not fix well, in some cases leaving a sort of
> mucinous, oily type film.  Therefore, whenever I do a heat retrieval,
> these cells will not adhere to the slide.
> 
> I have tried reprocessing the tissue with no luck. I have tried using
> vectabond coated slides with minimal results.  I am wondering if,
> after I have deparaffinized the slides, I put them in 10% formalin for
> about 10 minutes - hoping to fix the tissue better - and then go on
> and do a steam heat retrieval.
> 
> There isn't that much tumor to work with, otherwise I suppose I could
> carry on forever.
> 
> Has anyone ever dealt with a myxoid tumor?  and have you tried doing a
> postfixative with formalin to help tissue adhesion?
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> Ann
> 
> 
> Ann Maruska
> Fairview-University Medical Center
> Mpls. MN  55454
> amarusk1@fairview.org
> 612-273-9119
> 
>