RESUMEN
A 24-year-old male patient presented with the principal complaint of deposits on his teeth and gingival pigmentation. After examination, he was diagnosed with chronic generalized gingivitis. He was further referred for pre-procedural routine blood investigations. Bleeding time, clotting time, and his random blood sugar values were normal. CBC report revealed the presence of erythrocytosis with microcytic hypochromic red blood cells. Following this peripheral smear was taken which reveals the presence of polychromatophils, target cells and a few spherocytes. Haemoglobin electrophoresis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed which disclosed 90.8% of HbE, suggestive of homozygous haemoglobinopathy. He had no other associated systemic findings, and there was no relevant family history. The patient was informed about his condition and stated to have pre-marital and pre-natal genetic counselling in the future. The patient being a carrier of the thalassaemic trait happened to know his condition incidentally, which could prevent future complications.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: The use of microwave in the field of diagnostic pathology has gained a huge response in recent times. Use of domestic microwave ovens in the same is being widely studied. Unveiling the use of the microwave in improving the staining quality of tissue sections in the field of pathology can aid in precise diagnosis of complex conditions. AIM: The main aim of this study was to study the efficiency of microwave staining to reproduce the tissue architecture compared to that of conventional staining techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty different tissue blocks (including 10 mucocele tissue blocks) were used to prepare 30 pairs of slides for three different stains, namely hematoxylin and eosin, Van Gieson's, 0.1% toluidine blue and periodic acid-Schiff and 10 pairs of slides for mucicarmine stain. From each pair of slides, one slide was stained routinely, and the other was stained inside a microwave. Two pathologists evaluated the stained slides, and the results so obtained were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: Microwave staining considerably cut down the staining time from hours to seconds. Microwave staining showed no loss of cellular and nuclear details, uniform staining characteristics, and was of excellent quality. CONCLUSION: The microwave stained slide showed no significant difference in terms of cell outline clarity, cytoplasmic staining, nuclear outline, nuclear staining, nuclear chromatin, and staining intensity compared to that of routine staining method, and a significant difference was observed in the total staining time consumed by all the stains that were used.