PRELIM LAB: THE HISTOPATHOLOGY LABORATORY Flashcards
- HISTPATHOLOGY LABORATORY, EXAMINATION OF TISSUES IN HISTOPATHOLOGY LABORATORY, FIXED TISSUE EXAMINATION
Study of tissues affected by disease
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HISTOPATHOLOGY
Useful in making a diagnosis and in determining the severity and progress of a condition
HISTOPATHOLOGY
Duration of specimen storage:
at least 1-2 weeks
obsolete, not often used
nowadays
Fresh tissue examination
should be stored in the
lab forever
Autopsy specimen
head of the laboratory
Pathologist
supports the pathologist
Associate Pathologist
- The medical technologist
- Provides slides that are properly labeled,
processed, stained, mounted, and
sequenced
Histotechnologist/Histotechnician
- Ensures that formalin and other agents are
fresh and in good working quality - Maintains equipment in high-quality condition
- Performs preventing maintenance, as well as
troubleshooting procedures
Histotechnologist/Histotechnician
- Sections large and hollow organs to allow fixation
- Examines the tissue sections, cytologic slides
under the microscope - Monitors staff performance
- Pinpoint problematic situations and find
solutions
Pathologist and Assistant Pathologist
Set of procedures or technical activities on fulfilling
quality
QUALITY CONTROL
- Ensuring that everything is right (test, time,
specimen, patient, diagnosis, and price) - Includes availability of reagents, supplies, preventive maintenance and monitoring of equipment and evaluation of the quality of services
QUALITY ASSURANCE
TYPES OF HISTOPATHOLOGIC PROCESS
- Tissue Processing
- Frozen Biopsy
- Special Staining
- Immunohistochemistry
HISTOPATHOLOGIC TECHNIQUES
Includes all activities done in the laboratory in order to produce a suitable specimen side for viewing by the pathologist
- Proper specimen collection and processing of results and documentation
- High quality of reagents and equipment
- Continuous professional education of staff
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Set of coordinated activities to regulate a lab in order to continually improve its performance
- Skilled personnel
- Considers pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic phase
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
from receiving of specimen to
encoding of patient information
Pre-analytic
Skilled histotechnologist/histotechnician
which are responsible for:
- Proper specimen collection
- Proper processing of specimen
- Efficient processing of results
tissue processing phase
Analytic
To ensure an effective QMS, the histopathology laboratory should have the following:
Skilled histotechnologist/histotechnician
reading of slides and final
diagnosis
Post-analytic
Numerically, alphabetically, or chronologically arranged
DOCUMENTS
Request Form
- Name, Age, Sex, Date of Birth
- Hospital or Lab Accession #
- Specimen Type/Source; Clinical Impressions
- Pertinent History, Operative Findings
- Test Requested, Procedure performed
- Date & Time of Request, Collection, and
Transport - Requesting Physician
Request Form info + Diagnosis and
Gross/Microscopic findings + Name of
pathologist
Patient Report
TYPES OF RESULTS
- Surgical Pathology
- Cytopathology
- Autopsy Report
TURNAROUND TIME (TAT) OF RESULTS
Surgical Pathology and Cytology
2 days
TURNAROUND TIME (TAT) OF RESULTS
Frozen Sections
5-15 minutes
TURNAROUND TIME (TAT) OF RESULTS
Autopsy Report
7 days
preliminary diagnosis
Telephone Report
status of results 48-74 hours from
receiving
Prelim Report
conveys results after test is completed
Final Report
documents occurrence of problems
Incident Report
Tissues for examination are usually obtained through biopsy or autopsy. They range from whole organs or very large specimens to tiny fragments of tissue
EXAMINATION OF TISSUES IN HISTOPATHOLOGY LABORATORY
● AKA Necropsy; Thanatopsy
● Post-mortem examination of tissues
AUTOPSY
AUTOPSY PURPOSES:
● Determine cause of death and extent of injury
● Uncovering existence of an undetected disease
TYPES OF AUTOPSY ACCORDING TO:
- PURPOSE
- COMPLETENESS
- MANNER OF INCISION
TYPES OF AUTOPSY ACCORDING TO: PURPOSE
performed on a patient
who dies in a hospital during course of treatment
Medical/Hospital
TYPES OF AUTOPSY ACCORDING TO:
● Partial
● Complete
COMPLETENESS
TYPES OF AUTOPSY ACCORDING TO:
● Y-shaped
● Straight Cut (I-shaped)
MANNER OF INCISION
TYPES OF AUTOPSY ACCORDING TO: PURPOSE
generates evidentiary document that forms a basis for opinions rendered in a criminal trial, civil suit, and the like
Medico-legal
DISSECTION/EVISCERATION TECHNIQUES
- VIRCHOW
- ROKITANSKY
- GHON
- LETULLE
DISSECTION/EVISCERATION TECHNIQUES
● One by one removal of organs
● MOST WIDELY USED
VIRCHOW
DISSECTION/EVISCERATION TECHNIQUES
● “In situ” (in place) dissection, followed by en bloc removal
ROKITANSKY
DISSECTION/EVISCERATION TECHNIQUES
● “en bloc” removal
● Organs of same group/cavity/region are removed at the same time
GHON
DISSECTION/EVISCERATION TECHNIQUES
● “en masse” removal of organs
● All organs are removed at the same time, then dissected by blocks
LETULLE
PREREQUISITES TO PERFORMING AUTOPSY
- Written or informed consent from the legal next-of-kin
- Order of priority: spouse, adult child, either
parent, adult sibling, grandparent, guardian - Medical abstract or clinical data
- Autopsy Request (suspicious evidence of foul play)
PREREQUISITES TO PERFORMING AUTOPSY
spouse, adult child, either
parent, adult sibling, grandparent, guardian
Order of priority
PERSONNEL
- Coroner
- Prosector
- Diener
a public official who is empowered to order
an inquest into the manner or cause of death
Coroner
pathologist who performs the dissection
Prosector
comes from German word “leichendiener”
meaning “servant of the dead”; assists during
autopsy, and assumes many and varied
responsibilities in the autopsy laboratory
Diener
Organ block removed from the body cavity should be thoroughly washed of blood using ___________ to minimize the blood staining of organs. NEVER USE HOT WATER.
cool or cold water
Organ blocks are placed in a large enameled potmcontaining fixative, filled to about __________.
⅓ capacity
Tissues should not be pressed against each other ormthe bottom or walls of the container. TRUE OR FALSE?
TRUE
Lesions that are encountered during dissection should be _____________ before organ is fully incised.
obtained early and placed in fixative
● Ante-mortem examination of tissues (ante=before; mortem=death)
● Examination of tissue sample from the living
BIOPSY
TYPES OF BIOPSY
- FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION (FNA)
- CORE NEEDLE
- INCISIONAL
- EXCISIONAL
- PUNCH
- SHAVE
- CURETTAGE
Simplest, LEAST INVASIVE
Uses very thin needle attached to syringe to take out small amount of fluid and tissue from area
FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION (FNA)
Surgical; small part of a large lesion or tumor is taken
INCISIONAL
Uses slightly larger needle
Remove small column of tissue (1/16 inch in
diameter, ½ inch long)
CORE NEEDLE
Surgical; entire affected area is taken
EXCISIONAL
For skin; uses circular blade to obtain deeper skin sample that removes a short cylindrical core of tissue (“apple core”)
PUNCH
For skin; small fragments of out layers of skin are “shaved” or scraped
SHAVE
Tissues are removed from body cavity (or canals) using a curette (instrument with a tip shaped like a small scoop or hook)
CURETTAGE
METHODS OF EXAMINATION OF BIOPSY SPECIMENS
- FRESH
- PRESERVED
Allows examination of cells in their living state
FRESH TISSUE EXAMINATION
FRESH TISSUE EXAMINATION DISADVANTAGES
Subject to ischemia, therefore not
permanent, and liable to changes
FRESH TISSUE EXAMINATION ADVANTAGES
View protoplasmic activities (motion,
mitosis, phagocytosis, pinocytosis)
METHODS FOR FRESH TISSUE EXAMINATION
- Teasing
- Squash Preparation
- Smear
a. Streaking
b. Spreading
c. Pull-apart
d. Touch Prep - Frozen Sections
AKA Dissociation
TEASING
Selected tissue is immersed in petri dish/watch glass containing isotonic solution, and then carefully dissected and separated using needle or applicated
stick
TEASING
Tissue is then transferred to slide and examined under the microscope (phase contrast or bright field)
TEASING
May be stained using supravital dyes
TEASING
AKA Crushing
SQUASH PREPARATION
Small pieces of tissue with diameter <1mm are
compressed between two slides
SQUASH PREPARATION
May be stained using supravital dye
SQUASH PREPARATION
Method depends on nature of material to be examined
SMEAR
Useful for cytological examinations
SMEAR
Cellular materials are spread over a slide using wire loop, applicator stick or slide
SMEAR
Vital stains may also be applied
SMEAR
May be made permanent by fixing them
SMEAR
SMEAR TYPES:
a. Streaking
b. Spreading
c. Pull-apart
d. Touch Prep
Rapid, but gentle zigzag application of the material throughout slide
Streaking
Must have a relatively uniform distribution
Streaking
Material is gently spread onto the slide, and
the mucus strands are teased apart using an
application stick
Spreading
ADVANTAGE: Maintains intercellular relationships
Spreading
For fresh sputum, bronchial aspirates, and
thick mucoid secretions
Spreading
Slides are then pulled apart with a single,
uninterrupted movement in opposite
directions
Pull-apart
A drop of the material is placed into a clean
slide and covered with another clean slide.
Material is allowed to disperse evenly
Pull-apart
Surface of a freshly cut tissue is pressed to a clean slide
Touch Prep
AKA Impression Smear
Touch Prep
For Phase-Contrast Microscopy
Touch Prep
ADVANTAGE: Maintains intracellular relationships
Touch Prep
For rapid diagnosis of tissue
FROZEN SECTIONS
Requested during intra-operative procedures to help surgeon in choosing his next plan of action
FROZEN SECTIONS
FROZEN SECTIONS DISADVANTAGE:
relatively poor quality of the final
slide; expensive
Fresh tissues are frozen using a
cryostat or freezing
microtome
Recommended for demonstration of lipids and nervous tissue
FROZEN SECTIONS
FROZEN SECTIONS ADVANTAGE:
rapid processing time with less equipment requirement and less need for ventilation
Accomplished by fixing the tissues and carefully processing them to preserve their structures, then impregnating them with hardening substance to permit making thin slices suitable for staining and microscopic evaluation
FIXED TISSUE EXAMINATION
● END GOAL: produce a tissue section of good quality that allows for adequate interpretation of microscopic cellular changes for diagnosis
FIXED TISSUE EXAMINATION
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Various steps required to take the tissue from fixation to the state where it is completely infiltrated with a suitable histological wax and can be embedded ready for section cutting on the microtome
TISSUE PROCESSING
Preservation of tissue constituents in a life-like manner as possible
Fixation
● Remove of calcium or lime salts from bones following fixation
● For ease of cutting
Decalcification (optional)
Removal of water
Dehydration
Removal of the dehydrating agent with the use of a clearing agent (a solvent miscible with both the dehydrant and impregnating material)
Clearing/Dealcoholization
● Replacement of clearing material with impregnating material
● Gives firm consistency to tissue for ease of handling and sectioning
Infiltration/Impregnation
Placing the infiltrated tissue into a mold filled with molten wax to form a solid tissue block
Embedding
Removal of excess wax into fine tissue sections with the use of a microtome
Trimming
Cutting of tissues into fine tissue sections with the
use of a microtome
Section-Cutting/Microtomy
Application of dyes to sections for visualization
Staining
Use of media to mount a coverslip for ease of
handling, storage, and protection of sectioned tissue
Mounting
Before tissues are mounted on slides, they should undergo different processes. Each step in the process necessitates the use of various specific components.
INSTRUMENTATION
Indicating of accession number and year for proper
identification
Labelling
GROSS TABLE:
● Forceps
● Scalpel
● Chopping board
● Weighing balance
● Ruler
● Orientation markers
● Watch glass/petri dish
● Tissue cassettes
● Diamond pen, pencils
AUTOMATED TISSUE PROCESSORS (FDCI)
● Paraffin oven
● Embedding center
● Refrigerator: 40C
○ Freezer: 20C
Wax is heated at ____ in the embedding machine
60C
Processes that an automated machine can perform
FDCI (Fixation, Dehydration, Clearing, Infiltration)
- For unstained and transparent samples
- Only oblique rays hit the object
- Samples are made brightly lit against dark
background
Dark Field Microscope
- Phase shifts in light passing through transparent and colorless specimen are converted into brightness (contrast) changes in the specimen, making them visible
- does not require staining
Phase Contrast Microscope
for tissue and cell visualization
Microscope
simplest and most popular
Bright Field Microscope
- Designed to examine birefringent properties of anisotropic specimens
- Birefringence: splitting of one ray of light into two
- Anisotropism: substances that exhibit different properties when measured in different directions
- NOTE: Amyloid in Congo Red has Apple Green birefringence
Polarizing Microscope
- Uses ability of substance to exhibit fluorescence
- Fluorescence: emission of low frequency light of substances when they are illuminated with high energy light
- Only allows observation of the specific structures
which have been labeled for fluorescence - NOTE: Acridine Orange stains ssDNA – green
fluorescence, and ssDNA or RNA (cytoplasm) – red fluorescence;
Fluorescence Microscope
- Uses a beam of accelerated electrons as source of illumination
- Has higher resolving power than light microscopes and can reveal the structure of smaller objects
Electron Microscope
For producing tissue ribbons or sections
Microtome
KINDS OF MICROTOME
- Rotary
- Cryostat
- Sliding
- Freezing
- Rocking
- Ultrathin
Microtome Main Parts:
a. Block Holder
b. Knife Holder
c. Pawl and Feedwheel Mechanism
MOST COMMONLY USED; for routine and
serial (continuous) sections; knife is stationary
Rotary
Rotary Thickness:
3-5 micrometers
Rotary Inventor:
Minot
Rotary Microscope:
Light Microscope
Rotary Embedding material:
Paraffin
Sliding Types:
Base-Sledge and Standard Sliding
consists of a microtome (usually rotary),
kept inside a cold chamber maintained at -5C to -30C (avg: -20C); capable of freezing fresh tissues, thus used for STAT diagnosis
Cryostat
knife is moving
Sliding
invented by Queckette (1848)
Freezing
SIMPLEST
Rocking
Sliding Inventor:
Addams (1783)
60-100 nm thickness of tissue
- Mostly used for tissues embedded in epoxy
resin
Ultrathin
best for antigen preservation
Microwave Oven
used in epitope retrieval for immunohistochemistry
microwave oven
eliminate the need for the laborious manual staining
automated stainers
agitation and heating will increased fixation rate
microwave oven
- In situ hybridization and enzyme reactions
- Thermal Requirements: 37C
Incubator Oven
may operate through:
- dipping the slides into the stain; and/or
- applying the stain to the slides
automated stainers
Eliminate the need for the laborious manual staining
automated stainers
slide driers thermal requirement:
5-10C HIGHER than the
melting point of paraffin
removing water collected during sectioning (water from floatation bath)
slide dryers
causes uneven staining, artifacts
formation and tissue destruction
Overheating
Fishing out of tissue section; keeps sections from
wrinkling
FLOTATION BATH
Has “black” interior, for easy visualization of sections
FLOTATION BATH
FLOTATION BATH Thermal requirement:
5-10C LOWER than the
melting point of paraffin
System designed for paraffin embedding
EMBEDDING CENTERS
EMBEDDING CENTERS Thermal requirement:
2-4C HIGHER than the
melting point of the paraffin
MOST COMMON EMBEDDING CENTERS
PAPER BOAT
EMBEDDING CENTERS Components:
○ Paraffin dispenser and reservoir
○ Orientation stage
○ Chilling plate
○ Warm storage (for embedding mold)
● May be stationary or moving
● Equipped with alarm and warn technicians if high temperature
● Often use vacuum in heat to speed up procedures
AUTOMATED TISSUE PROCESSOR
AUTOMATED TISSUE PROCESSOR MAIN TYPES:
- Tissue-Transfer Machine (dip and dunk)
- Fluid-Transfer Machine (enclosed)
specimens are transferred from container to container
Tissue-Transfer Machine (dip and dunk)
specimens are held in a single chamber, and then fluids are pumped in and out as required
Fluid-Transfer Machine (enclosed)
For gross examination and dissection of submitted
specimens
GROSS TABLE
GROSS TABLE It should have:
○ Sink
○ Table Top
○ Water Supply
○ Irrigation System
○ Fume Ventilation
○ Waste Disposal Unit
Coplin jars, staining racks, staining dishes (all
three are for staining) and other glass and plastic materials (for storage and preparation of solutions)
Wares
measurement of solution and buffers
pH Meters
for gross examination
Grossing Tools
Freezer Thermal requirement:
-20C
Refrigerators Thermal requirement:
4C
– liver tissues and renal
tissues
Tissue cassette
YELLOW
routine tissues
(fallopian tube, cervix,
gallbladder, appendix)
Tissue cassette
GREEN
BONE SAMPLE
Tissue cassette
WHITE
SAMPLE IS SKIN
Tissue cassette
GRAY
lymph node
Tissue cassette
PINK