Heat Induced Processing of Cellblocks with Significant Reduction in Overall Turn Around Time.
J Cytol 2023;
40:126-132. [PMID:
37745803 PMCID:
PMC10516157 DOI:
10.4103/joc.joc_34_23]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Cellblock (CB) with immunohistochemistry (IHC) is practically indispensable in the diagnostic workup of serous effusions; however, CB requires a minimum of 15-20 h for routine histopathological processing. A reduction in processing time can expedite a faster diagnosis.
Aim
This study was undertaken to evaluate the utility of the heat-induced CB (HICB) technique.
Material and Methods
Two sets of agar-embedded CBs were processed from 50 effusion samples. CBs were further processed by conventional and rapid methods. Conventional CBs (CCB) were processed in a histoprocessor, whereas rapid CB was processed in a heated water bath with an agitation facility. For HICB processing, dehydration and clearing were performed at 50°C followed by paraffin wax impregnation at 65°C temperature. From both CBs, sections of 5 um thickness were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E). Cell morphology, cost, and time were compared between the two methods. The feasibility of IHC was attempted in a few cases.
Results
HICB was completed within 4.30 h compared with CCB. Diagnoses on both CBs were concordant in all the cases. Incomplete dehydration was noted in six (12%) cases, but the diagnosis was not compromised. No additional cost was involved in HICB. On IHC, both HICB and CCB exhibited equivalent expression.
Conclusions
HICB is a rapid, innovative, simple, and cost-effective technique and expedites faster diagnosis. It does not require any advanced equipment.
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