Abstract
To analyze the impact of using a hand held fan to speed the air-drying process during immediate adequacy evaluation of Fine Needle Aspirations. The effect on turn around time and staining quality is evaluated. Two mirror image air-dried smears for each pass were prepared. One was subjected to a small hand-held fan with a fan diameter of 7 cm held an average distance of 3 to 5 cm from the slide. The other smear was left to dry without a fan. A total of 93 consecutive pairs were evaluated over a 2-month duration. The average time needed for air-drying using the fan was 73 seconds (range 10-300 seconds, standard error 6.986), while it was 200 seconds (range 15-645 seconds, standard error 17.799) for those without fan. This difference was statistically significant (p <0.001). Smears were then evaluated for single cells, cell clusters and background material and no appreciable difference in stain quality was noted between the 2 groups. The use of a small hand-held fan for air-drying shortened the drying time for FNA adequacy by an average of 127 seconds (63% time reduction) for each pass. The quality of staining was comparable. Using a fan is highly recommended.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 12 |
| Journal | CytoJournal |
| Volume | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 19 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine
- Oncology
Cite this
Fast drying of Fine Needle Aspiration slides using a hand held fan : Impact on turn around time and staining quality. / Baig, Mirza A.; Fathallah, Lamia; Feng, Jining; Husain, Mujtaba; Grignon, David; Al-Abbadi, Mousa A.
In: CytoJournal, Vol. 3, 12, 19.04.2006.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Fast drying of Fine Needle Aspiration slides using a hand held fan
T2 - Impact on turn around time and staining quality
AU - Baig, Mirza A.
AU - Fathallah, Lamia
AU - Feng, Jining
AU - Husain, Mujtaba
AU - Grignon, David
AU - Al-Abbadi, Mousa A.
PY - 2006/4/19
Y1 - 2006/4/19
N2 - To analyze the impact of using a hand held fan to speed the air-drying process during immediate adequacy evaluation of Fine Needle Aspirations. The effect on turn around time and staining quality is evaluated. Two mirror image air-dried smears for each pass were prepared. One was subjected to a small hand-held fan with a fan diameter of 7 cm held an average distance of 3 to 5 cm from the slide. The other smear was left to dry without a fan. A total of 93 consecutive pairs were evaluated over a 2-month duration. The average time needed for air-drying using the fan was 73 seconds (range 10-300 seconds, standard error 6.986), while it was 200 seconds (range 15-645 seconds, standard error 17.799) for those without fan. This difference was statistically significant (p <0.001). Smears were then evaluated for single cells, cell clusters and background material and no appreciable difference in stain quality was noted between the 2 groups. The use of a small hand-held fan for air-drying shortened the drying time for FNA adequacy by an average of 127 seconds (63% time reduction) for each pass. The quality of staining was comparable. Using a fan is highly recommended.
AB - To analyze the impact of using a hand held fan to speed the air-drying process during immediate adequacy evaluation of Fine Needle Aspirations. The effect on turn around time and staining quality is evaluated. Two mirror image air-dried smears for each pass were prepared. One was subjected to a small hand-held fan with a fan diameter of 7 cm held an average distance of 3 to 5 cm from the slide. The other smear was left to dry without a fan. A total of 93 consecutive pairs were evaluated over a 2-month duration. The average time needed for air-drying using the fan was 73 seconds (range 10-300 seconds, standard error 6.986), while it was 200 seconds (range 15-645 seconds, standard error 17.799) for those without fan. This difference was statistically significant (p <0.001). Smears were then evaluated for single cells, cell clusters and background material and no appreciable difference in stain quality was noted between the 2 groups. The use of a small hand-held fan for air-drying shortened the drying time for FNA adequacy by an average of 127 seconds (63% time reduction) for each pass. The quality of staining was comparable. Using a fan is highly recommended.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33745299118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33745299118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/1742-6413-3-12
DO - 10.1186/1742-6413-3-12
M3 - Article
VL - 3
JO - CytoJournal
JF - CytoJournal
SN - 0974-5963
M1 - 12
ER -