It is important to recognize that Romanowsky-stained smears and sections fade
unless they are coverslipped in a permanent mountant. Post-fixation of
formalin fixed tissue in methanol before panoptic staining (combining a
Romanowsky stain with buffer or another stain) is essential in improving the
staining intensity of granules and bodies.

Although old sections and smears can be decolorized and restained, the
results are never quite the same.


Eric C. Kellar
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center


-----Original Message-----
From: rzumbo
To: HISTONET@pathology.swmed.edu
Sent: 9/5/00 10:00 PM
Subject: May-Grunwald Giemsa

HI all,
A colleague is having trouble with a May-Grunwald-Giemsa stain.
She is doing the stain on formalin fixed tissue mainly hearts, some
of which are 2 years old. She is doing a modified May-Grumwald-
Giemsa ( Manual of Histological Techniques and their Diagnostic
Application,Bancroft & Cook pg 328) using Sorensons buffer. The
section after differentiation are perfect. After drying the sections
have gone bright blue and the features we are looking for (mainly
Eosinophils and mast cells) are all blue. Does anyone know what
is causing it and how it can be fixed.
Thanks

Rosalba Zumbo
Technical Officer ( Scientific)
Institute of Forensic Medicine
Sydney, Australia