Specimen Collection and Handling

Small biopsies to be placed immediately in 10% buffered formalin.

Use approximately 10 to 20 times as much formalin solution as the bulk of the tissue.

The following cases should always be placed in formalin:

Skin, moles, uterine curettings, cervical biopsies, breast biopsies, prostate biopsies/TUR, bladder biopsies/tumors, nerves/ganglia, rectal biopsies/polyps, ENT biopsies, Lymph nodes (except for culture/flow cytometry), bone, gallbladder, liver biopsies, renal biopsies, bronchoscopic biopsies, fallopian tube segments, vas deferens and any other site not listed.

Organ and larger tissue resections are to be placed in large specimen container (1 gallon size) and covered with an adequate amount of formalin, 1:10 ratio of tissue/formalin for adequate fixation.

All specimens are sent to the Histology department as soon as convenient to expedite the tissue processing with leads to the microscopic evaluation.

Special Instructions:

All specimen containers must be labeled with 2 unique patient identifiers to include the patient’s first/last name, date of birth or unique medical record number.

All specimen containers must be labeled with the date of collection, specimen source for each container and requesting clinician.

The patient requisition or electronic order must include the patient’s first/last name, date of birth, ward/clinic, hospital MRN, gender, date of collection, specimen source for all containers, requesting clinician, clinical history and pre-operative/post – operative diagnosis.