I agree with Joyce. The sections are not "beautiful" but you can make a
diagnosis from the slides. I would suggest trying to put a large label on
your methyl alcohol so that the person changing the processor would be able
to immediately identify the reagent as opposed to confusing it with another
reagent in a like container. Do what ever it takes to keep this from
happening again. So what ever works for your lab, do it. I'm surprised that
your MLA didn't notice some difference in the smell no matter how great the
ventilation is in your lab. Xylene certainly smells different than methyl
alcohol or maybe, they just aren't familiar with the odors. Anyway, good
luck in preventing this from happening again.

Hope this helps,
Diane

Diane C. Gladney, HT(ASCP)
Moncrief Army Community Hospital
Dept. of Pathology, Histology Section
Ft. Jackson, SC 29207-5600



-----Original Message-----
From: Weems, Joyce [mailto:JWEEMS@sjha.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 2:39 PM
To: 'DeLovino, Salvacion S.'; 'HistoNet Server'
Subject: RE: Trouble Shooting


I would have put the tissue back in xylene to remove the paraffin, then
absolute alcohol, xylene and paraffin again. the tissue would have been a
little crisp, but salvageable. 

Joyce Weems
Pathology Manager
Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta


	-----Original Message-----
	From:	DeLovino, Salvacion S. [SMTP:Salvacion.DeLovino@cshs.org]
	Sent:	Wednesday, April 10, 2002 2:23 PM
	To:	'HistoNet Server'
	Subject:	Trouble Shooting


		Hello Histonetters,

		We had a problem with our tissue processing last week and
until now,
	they are still arguing about what should and shouldn't have been
done. What
	happened was, our MLA used methyl alcohol instead of xylene when she
changed
	the solutions. So it was methyl alcohol instead of xylene right
before
	paraffin. It was her fault for not reading the label but couldn't
really
	blame her as the containers look alike. Anyways, we didn't know at
first
	that that was what happened but we noticed the tissues were hard and
brittle
	on the edges but soft in the middle. Was there something we could
have done
	to save the tissues? Please help us settle the arguments!
		Thanks a lot in advance.

		Salvacion S. Delovino