Special Stains Flashcards
applied to tissue sections in addition to H&E
special stains
provides differential contrast to cell and tissue components to understand cell structure and function
special stains
special stains are useful for (6)
-determining DNA/RNA content
-biochemistry of diseases
-primary sites of metastatic tumors
-identifying non-pigmented metastatic melanomas
-detecting early invading tumors
-defining margins of resected tumor
special stain controls must be run with pt material to do what (3)
-determine if stain is working
-assess degree of nonspecific staining
-determine if reagent is still active
for evidence of CAP regulation compliances, you must have (3)
-written procedure for special stains
-records of special stain QC
-documented results of verified special stain control tissue blocks
mucopolysaccharides that are long chains of sugar molecules and maintain structural integrity of bone, cartilage, skin, elastic tissue and membrane
mucins
carcinomas that are comprised of at least 60% mucus are referred to as
mucinous
comprise about 10-15% of all adenocarcinomas
mucinous tumors
mucin producing cancer
adenocarcinoma
this may be found in subcutaneous tissue in cases of thyroid deficiency and in myxomas
connective tissue mucin
rare benign tumor of the heart which obstructs blood flow; can also be found in eyes and skeletal muscle
myxomas
basic dye containing copper
alcian blue
attracted to negative mucins
alcian blue
excess mucin is secreted by epithelial tissues in _______ and ________ carcinomas
inflammation, intestinal
used to detect acid mucopolysaccharides (mucin) of epithelial origin
mucicarmine
can detect cryptococcus by staining the bacterial capsule
mucicarmine
stain used to verify the presence of signet ring carcinoma
mucicarmine
periodic acid oxidizes the hydroxyl group to an aldehyde, which reacts with Schiff reagent to form purple-red stain
PAS
useful in detecting glycogen, mucin, fungus, basement membranes
PAS
sensitive histochemical stain for glycogen by depolymerize it into smaller sugar units that are washed out of the section
PAS with diastase
what PAS can identify (7)
-adenocarcinoma
-apocrine carcinoma
-basement membrane containing tumors
-clear cell tumors
-Paget’s disease
-fungal disease
-Ewing sarcoma
used to differentiate between neutral and acidic mucosubstances
alcian blue PAS
neutral mucosubstances are stained by
PAS
acidic mucosubstances are stained by
alcian blue
fibrillar protein that deposits in tissue under certain pathologic conditions
amyloid
contains 1-2% carbohydrate, mostly acidic mucopolysaccharides
amyloid
disease characterized by an amorphous, eosinophilic, extracellular deposit that gradually replaces cellular elements of vital organs and progressive loss of function and eventual death
amyloidosis
occurs spontaneously in the absence of any predisposing disease, affecting mostly muscle, heart, skin and tongue
primary amyloid
inflammatory dz such as RA and TB, affecting mostly kidneys, liver, spleen, and adrenal glands
secondary amyloid
4 classifications of amyloid
primary amyloid, secondary amyloid, myeloma-asso. amyloid, tumor asso. amyloid
used to demonstrate amyloid
congo red
stains pink to red with apple green bifringerence under polarized light
amyloid
this is used to stain nuclei
hematoxylin
morphological demonstration of amyloid deposits are necessary in this type of biopsy
renal biopsy
better demonstrates amyloid in heart muscle than congo red
Lieb’s crystal violet
cannot mount with xylene, instead must use an aqueous mounting media
Lieb’s crystal violet
alternate method to improve the sensitivity of amyloid detection, but not permanent
thio flavin-T
