Jonathan raises an interesting point, which I hope will be addressed by someone with more experience and knowledge than I, about cells being "cooked".
In Matilda Beyer-Boon's book, called something like 'The Microwave Cook-book', she makes the point that microwaving done properly decreases the time takes for all the cross links to take place. However, this can only occur when the formalin is in contact with the cell. In other words, microwaving prior to penetration of the fixative, is cooking. After penetration of the fixative, it is augmentation/speeding up.
Comments?


Terry L Marshall B.A.(Law), M.B.Ch.B., F.R.C.Path
Consultant Histopathologist
Rotherham General Hospital, Yorkshire
terry.marshall@rgh-tr.trent.nhs.uk



Does microwaving tissue cause damage. Sure does. And it destroys cytologic
detail.

The procedure COOKS the chromatin and destroys nuclear detail, destroying
the opportunity to recognize cancer when it is present in small quantities.
I have seen this again and again on specimens sent to me for a second
opinion. Hey, it speeds up turn around time. It ain't worth it. . . . . Just
one pathologist's strongly held opinion.

Jonathan Oppenheimer, MD
OUR Lab, Nashville