Rapid, Automated Tissue Processing Techniques for Small Biopsies Can be used to Produce Quality Sections for Diagnostic Reporting in Histopathology

Abstract

Surgical histopathologists are currently working in a context of high demand and requirement for fast turnaround times to report small diagnostic biopsies. Use of automated rapid cycle processing could improve turnaround times for reporting small biopsies. There are few papers in the medical literature describing detailed assessment of staining quality in verification of automated rapid cycle processing methods. This study assessed quality of immunohistochemical and haematoxylin and eosin staining of 62 paired endometrial biopsy samples processed using standard overnight cycles compared with rapid cycles of either 2, 3 or 4 hours duration. We found that small biopsies adequately fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin were of sufficient staining quality for use in diagnostic reporting if they were processed for 3 or 4 hours. Five samples in our 2-hour group were of insufficient staining quality for full microscopic evaluation and histopathological diagnosis. As such, the 2-hour method was rejected. Rapid cycles of three hours duration will be adopted in our laboratory for processing small samples. Prospective monitoring of report turnaround times will be needed to assess impact on future outcomes for patients.

Integration of rapid PCR testing as an adjunct to NGS in diagnostic pathology services within the UK: evidence from a case series of non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with follow-up

“…Histological tissue samples were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for between 6 and 72 hours as required to produce clinically valid programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry (IHC) tumour proportion scores. EBUS samples in our institution are placed in 10% neutral buffered formalin and processed as small tissue samples by short cycle processing 34. Non-gynaecological diagnostic cytology samples such as needle aspirates and washings are preserved in Cytolytsolution containing methanol for fixation where appropriate.…”