Abstract
Oral surgeons, surgeons and dentists carrying out small biopsy procedures on an out-patient basis have been frequently sending poorly stored biopsy tissues to the Departments of Oral Pathology of various dental colleges, wherein the tissues were being stored in normal saline and then transferred to formalin. Such tissues often show abnormal cellular and architectural changes, which pose a challenge to diagnosis, especially when the histopathologist is not aware that the tissue was stored in normal saline for some time. We wanted to know the extent of artefactually induced cellular and architectural changes in tissues that were transported in normal saline and received by us, based on the duration for which they were held in normal saline. Normal oral soft tissue was subjected to storage in normal saline for periods varying from 1 to 36 h, before being fixed in 10 % formalin. Soft tissue specimens were collected during routine surgical extractions and each was cut into six parts. One was transferred immediately to formalin as control and other bits kept in normal saline for intervals of 1, 3, 12, 24, and 36 h before fixing in formalin. A comparative photographic analysis was carried out to analyze the histopathological changes. The tissues kept in normal saline before fixation underwent various changes. In no way should normal saline be used, even for a short time, to store and transport excised tissue; it is imperative that such tissues be placed immediately in a proper fixative like 10 % formalin.
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Supplementary material 1—Fig. 1: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept as control in formalin (H&E×400) (JPEG 342 kb)
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Supplementary material 2—Fig. 2: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 1hour (H&E ×400)(JPEG 420 kb)
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Supplementary material 3—Fig. 3: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 3 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 408 kb)
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Supplementary material 4—Fig. 4: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 12 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 444 kb)
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Supplementary material 5—Fig. 5: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 24 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 456 kb)
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Supplementary material 6—Fig. 6: Photomicrograph of the Epithelial changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 36 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 434 kb)
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Supplementary material 7—Fig. 7: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept as control in formalin (H&E ×400)(JPEG 428 kb)
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Supplementary material 8—Fig. 8: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 1hour (H&E ×400)(JPEG 405 kb)
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Supplementary material 9—Fig. 9: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 3 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 450 kb)
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Supplementary material 10—Fig. 10: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 12 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 445 kb)
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Supplementary material 11—Fig. 11: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 24 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 493 kb)
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Supplementary material 12—Fig. 12: Photomicrograph of the Connective tissue changes in the specimen kept in normal saline for 36 hours (H&E ×400)(JPEG 537 kb)
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Sengupta, S., Prabhat, K., Gupta, V. et al. Artefacts Produced by Normal Saline When Used as a Holding Solution for Biopsy Tissues in Transit. J. Maxillofac. Oral Surg. 13, 148–151 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-013-0473-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12663-013-0473-z