Hi, Histonetters,

I hope someone out there can help me with a precipitation problem --no, not
rain!
A student sent slides from their facility stained with AFB -- both patient
and controls. Some of them are covered with a precipitate that I can't
"decipher". Some other slides are not affected at all by this precip. Help
would be appreciated.

The stuff is mainly on the tissue itself, not on the slide where there's no
tissue, and it polarizes, giving a fine scattering of "stars"; under oil
objective, it looks brownish-black, is rounded (not linear), and they range
from very tiny to larger, but none are as large as nuclei in the tissue;
some of the larger pieces look sort of empty, and shaped like pneumocystis
(saucer-like). The tissue is fixed in 10% NBF, both Histobond and an old
(received in lab in 1993) Fisher product called "Aerosol OT" is added to the
water bath -- the latter for release of wrinkles. They do not use a
freeze-spray for chilling the blocks -- they face off, then return blocks to
an ice tray for cooling.

Respond to me either on the net or in person -- I'd like all the help I can
get so I can help the students' lab. I don't  find any mention or pictures
of such an artifact in any of my references.

Glenda Hoye, BS, HT(ASCP)
Histotechnology Program Director,
Indiana University School of Allied Health Sciences
317.278.1599	 fax 317.278.1820