TY  - BOOK
AU  -  Elias, Lucas.  Meyson 
AU  - Kahima, Jackon
TI  - Evaluation of Fixation Status of Mastectomy Specimen at Histopathology Unit at Bugando Medical Centre
PY  - 2019///
CY  - Mwanza, Tanzania
PB  - Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS - Bugando] , Phone: +255 28 298 3384 : ,    Fax: +255 28 298 3386,   Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz,  Website: www.bugando.ac.tz
KW  -  
N2  - Abstract:

Background: the specimens removed from body need to be fixed so as to preserve the morphology for histological examination. Tissue specimens were fixed immediately in 10% neutral buffered formalin as routine fixative for histopathological diagnosis. Improper fixation could lead to difficult in tissue processing and poor morphology which could hinder to diagnosis and application on ancillary studies. This study would assess the adequate of fixative volume in relation to size of specimen for mastectomy specimen.

Methods: this would be a prospective cross sectional study. The date and time of arrival of each mastectomy specimen in the histopathology laboratory would be recorded. The volume of tissue and volume of fixative would be measured in milliliters, for specimens in which small lesion is often situated within a large mass of tissue would be analyzed further by measuring the distance in terms of centimeters from the tumor edge by using hand held ruler to the nearest resection margin by aid of pathologist during grossing. The morphology of tissue during histological examination would be established if it was well preserved, moderate or poorly preserved, moderate or poorly preserved with assistance of the pathologist.

Results: 37 samples out of 54 with 68.52% were those mastectomy specimens which was well fixed, 10 samples out of 54 with 18.52% were those mastectomy specimens which was moderate fixed. 7 samples out of 54 with 12.96% were those mastectomy specimens which were poorly fixed. 2 samples were excluded in the study did not met the criteria.

Conclusion: this study concluded that fixation status of mastectomy specimens at histopathology unit at BMC was not affected by time but was affected by shortage of fixative volume which brought an image of poor fixation, also shortage of containers which can carry sufficient volume of fixative to cover the whole tissue because they are large in size.

Implications: this would provide information that would help to improve the fixation of mastectomy specimens for proper diagnosis and further ancillary studies

ER  -