Dear Aidan,
  I will go on a limb and say the slides are still wet
when you begin staining.  Tap slides with gauze,paper
towel,cloth,etc..prior to placing slides into a
staining rack.  Extend your deparaffinization (if
there is such a word) by 10 to 15 minutes.  Good luck!

D. Low HT(ASCP)QIHC
Elmendorf Med Ctr

--- Aidan Schurr  wrote:
> hi all,
> 
> I have recently struck a strange staining artefact
> where the tissue has patches where the haematoxylin
> doesn't seem to have been taken up.  The size seems
> to vary from a dozen or so cells across to 10 or
> more times that size.  The eosin staining appears to
> be normal in these areas.  Nothing should have
> changed in our staining protocol, but I was
> wondering if anyone has any suggestions.
> 
> My thought so far are:  hot plates too hot,
> contaminated xylene, 95 and 100% alcohols
> transposed, dud batch of haematoxylin (long shot).
> 
> Can anyone help?
> 
> Cheers,
> Aidan
> 
> 
> __
> 
> aidan schurr  b.m.l.sc
> section head, histology
> hutt valley district health board
> lower hutt
> new zealand
> 
> aidan.schurr@hvh.co.nz
> ++64 4 570 9173
> 
> 


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