Special Stains

Question 1

applied to tissue sections in addition to H&E

Answer 1

special stains

Question 2

provides differential contrast to cell and tissue components to understand cell structure and function

Answer 2

special stains

Question 3

special stains are useful for (6)

Answer 3

-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

Question 4

special stain controls must be run with pt material to do what (3)

Answer 4

-determine if stain is working
-assess degree of nonspecific staining
-determine if reagent is still active

Question 5

for evidence of CAP regulation compliances, you must have (3)

Answer 5

-written procedure for special stains
-records of special stain QC
-documented results of verified special stain control tissue blocks

Question 6

mucopolysaccharides that are long chains of sugar molecules and maintain structural integrity of bone, cartilage, skin, elastic tissue and membrane

Answer 6

mucins

Question 7

carcinomas that are comprised of at least 60% mucus are referred to as

Answer 7

mucinous

Question 8

comprise about 10-15% of all adenocarcinomas

Answer 8

mucinous tumors

Question 9

mucin producing cancer

Answer 9

adenocarcinoma

Question 10

this may be found in subcutaneous tissue in cases of thyroid deficiency and in myxomas

Answer 10

connective tissue mucin

Question 11

rare benign tumor of the heart which obstructs blood flow; can also be found in eyes and skeletal muscle

Answer 11

myxomas

Question 12

basic dye containing copper

Answer 12

alcian blue

Question 13

attracted to negative mucins

Answer 13

alcian blue

Question 14

excess mucin is secreted by epithelial tissues in _______ and ________ carcinomas

Answer 14

inflammation, intestinal

Question 15

used to detect acid mucopolysaccharides (mucin) of epithelial origin

Answer 15

mucicarmine

Question 16

can detect cryptococcus by staining the bacterial capsule

Answer 16

mucicarmine

Question 17

stain used to verify the presence of signet ring carcinoma

Answer 17

mucicarmine

Question 18

periodic acid oxidizes the hydroxyl group to an aldehyde, which reacts with Schiff reagent to form purple-red stain

Answer 18

PAS

Question 19

useful in detecting glycogen, mucin, fungus, basement membranes

Answer 19

PAS

Question 20

sensitive histochemical stain for glycogen by depolymerize it into smaller sugar units that are washed out of the section

Answer 20

PAS with diastase

Question 21

what PAS can identify (7)

Answer 21

-adenocarcinoma
-apocrine carcinoma
-basement membrane containing tumors
-clear cell tumors
-Paget’s disease
-fungal disease
-Ewing sarcoma

Question 22

used to differentiate between neutral and acidic mucosubstances

Answer 22

alcian blue PAS

Question 23

neutral mucosubstances are stained by

Answer 23

PAS

Question 24

acidic mucosubstances are stained by

Answer 24

alcian blue

Question 25

fibrillar protein that deposits in tissue under certain pathologic conditions

Answer 25

amyloid

Question 26

contains 1-2% carbohydrate, mostly acidic mucopolysaccharides

Answer 26

amyloid

Question 27

disease characterized by an amorphous, eosinophilic, extracellular deposit that gradually replaces cellular elements of vital organs and progressive loss of function and eventual death

Answer 27

amyloidosis

Question 28

occurs spontaneously in the absence of any predisposing disease, affecting mostly muscle, heart, skin and tongue

Answer 28

primary amyloid

Question 29

inflammatory dz such as RA and TB, affecting mostly kidneys, liver, spleen, and adrenal glands

Answer 29

secondary amyloid

Question 30

4 classifications of amyloid

Answer 30

primary amyloid, secondary amyloid, myeloma-asso. amyloid, tumor asso. amyloid

Question 31

used to demonstrate amyloid

Answer 31

congo red

Question 32

stains pink to red with apple green bifringerence under polarized light

Answer 32

amyloid

Question 33

this is used to stain nuclei

Answer 33

hematoxylin

Question 34

morphological demonstration of amyloid deposits are necessary in this type of biopsy

Answer 34

renal biopsy

Question 35

better demonstrates amyloid in heart muscle than congo red

Answer 35

Lieb's crystal violet

Question 36

cannot mount with xylene, instead must use an aqueous mounting media

Answer 36

Lieb's crystal violet

Question 37

alternate method to improve the sensitivity of amyloid detection, but not permanent

Answer 37

thio flavin-T