Useofmethyl methacrylate resin forembedding bonemarrow trephine biopsy specimens

Aims-To evaluate theuse ofmethyl methacrylate resinasanembedding mediumforundecalcified bonemarrowtrephinebiopsy specimens. Methods-About2500undecalcified bone marrowtrephine biopsyspecimens were processed, andembeddedinmethyl methacrylate resin. Semithin sections (2-3gm) werestained by routine tinctorial and immunocytochemical staining methods witha widerangeofantibodies usinga standard streptavidin biotin horseradish peroxidase technique. Different antigen retrieval pretreatments wereevaluated. Results-Bone marrow trephine biopsy specimensare embeddedroutinely in methylmethacrylate attheHaematologicalMalignancy Diagnostic Service atThe LeedsGeneral Infirmary. Over50differentprimaryantibodies areincurrent use; forthemajority ofthese, microwave antigenretrieval ortrypsin digestion, orboth, iseither essential orgreatly enhances the results. Conclusions-Embedding bonemarrow trephine biopsyspecimens in methyl methacrylate resinretains morphology andpermits reliable, highquality immunocytochemistry. Thisisparticularly desirable forthedemonstration ofneoplastic cells inregenerative marrowafter chemotherapy, andinthedetection ofresidual disease after treatment. Theuseofmethyl methacrylate forroutine use on bone marrow trephine biopsyspecimens is advocated. (iClin Pathol 1997;50:45-49)