Cytology Staining and Biopsy Speed Round Review

Flashcards generated from the Cytology Quiz #5 speed round prep lecture notes covering stains, reagents, histology slides, and biopsy types.

Biological Stain Commission

The organization that ensures stain and dye quality and consistency in the United States and Canada.

Color Index Number

A standardized value used to identify dyes to ensure consistent color regardless of the manufacturer.

Chromophore

The portion of a dye molecule that produces color, also known as the color bearer.

Auxochrome

The complete dye structure formed by the combination of an ionizing agent and a chromophore.

Amphoteric Chromophore

A chromophore that contains both positive and negative charges.

Hematoxylin

The nuclear stain in the Pap stain setup, derived from the heartwood of the logwood tree, which stains DNA.

Sodium lodate

The oxidizing agent in Gill's Hematoxylin that oxidizes colorless hematoxylin into a pale-yellow compound.

Mordant

A reagent added to a dye to form a dye lake, producing a strong basic dye and turning hematoxylin rust red.

Ammonium Aluminum Sulfate

The mordant component used in Gill's Hematoxylin.

Ethylene Glycol

The component in Gill's Hematoxylin that increases the solubility of the solvent.

Glacial Acetic Acid

The component in Gill's Hematoxylin responsible for lowering the pH of the stain.

OG

A counterstain in the Pap stain made of small molecules that stains keratin an orange-yellow color.

EA

A Pap stain counterstain formulation composed of Eosin and Light Green.

Eosin

A small-molecule dye in EA that stains cilia, RBCs, trich granules, nucleoli (RNA), eosinophils, and superficial cell cytoplasm pink-red.

Light Green

A large-molecule dye in EA that stains the cytoplasm of metabolically active cells blue-green.

Phosphotungstic Acid

A reagent that can be added to EA to adjust the shade of Light Green.

Bismarck Brown

A dye included in the original Pap stain formulation that is no longer used in modern practice.

Bluing

The step in the staining procedure, typically using Scott's agent, that converts hematoxylin from red to purple.

Scott's Solution

The typical bluing agent used to shift the color of hematoxylin from red to purple.

Xylene

The clearing agent used before coverslipping that appears grossly milky white if contaminated with water.

Cornflaking / Brown Artifact

An artifact resulting from air pockets trapped under the coverslip due to not wetting the slide in xylene prior to coverslipping.

Refractive Index

The measure of light refraction off elements of a slide, with an ideal target value of 1.52 for glass, coverslip, mounting media, and cells.

Special Stains

Stains that directly color actual chemical substances within cells or tissue and exhibit various colors depending on the stain.

IHCs

Immunohistochemical stains that detect antigen-antibody reactions, producing a consistent base color regardless of the targeted marker.

Trichrome Stain

A polychrome stain used by Dr. Papanicolaou before developing the Pap stain, commonly used today to stain connective tissue.

Prussian Blue

A special stain (also known as Iron stain) used to confirm the presence of iron/blood, such as green pigment in pulmonary macrophages.

Fontana-Masson

A formalin-fixed special stain used to identify argentaffin granules or melanin pigment.

Oil Red O

A special stain used to identify lipids, preferably fixed with air-drying or formalin.

Sudan Black

A lipid stain that can be fixed with formalin, air-drying, or glutaraldehyde.

Glutaraldehyde

The fixative of choice for specimens submitted for electron microscopy (EM), also used for Sudan Black staining.

Mucicarmine

The classic special stain used to highlight mucin, fixed in 95% EtOH or formalin.

PAS

Periodic Acid-Schiff stain, used to identify glycogen and mucin in cell samples.

Diastase

An enzyme used with PAS staining to digest glycogen; if pink staining remains after diastase digestion, the substance is mucin.

Congo Red

A special stain fixed in 95% EtOH that highlights amyloid, requiring a polarizing microscope or filter to visualize.

AFB

Acid-Fast Bacilli stain, typically used to identify Mycobacterium species such as those causing tuberculosis.

GMS

Grocott's Methenamine Silver stain, the most common stain used to identify fungal organisms.

Histogel

An agar-like matrix reagent used to prepare cell blocks without introducing donor DNA.

Core Biopsy

A tissue biopsy taken in the exact shape of the needle's track.

Touch-prep

A rapid cytologic assessment technique used to evaluate the adequacy and quality of a core biopsy sample.

Resection

A surgical biopsy procedure involving the complete removal of an entire mass or organ.

Lung tissue (alveolar space)

Histological representation of lung alveolar tissue.

Liver tissue

Histological representation of liver parenchyma.

Intestinal tissue

Histological representation of intestinal mucosal tissue.

Kidney tissue

Histological representation of renal cortex tissue showing glomeruli.