Karthiga Vj , Arthy Raman , Subhashini Ramamoorthi , Debasis Gochhait , Sreerekha Jinkala ,
Volume 19, Issue 4 (7-2025)
Background: Conventional Tissue Processing (CTP) is the gold standard method for tissue processing; however, the method is relatively time-consuming. Microwave Tissue Processing (MTP) reduces the turnaround time and gives comparable histomorphology to CTP. The objective was to compare the Laboratory-grade Microwave Processing (LMP) and Domestic Microwave tissue Processing (DMP) with CTP in terms of histomorphology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining.
Methods: Three tissue bits from 89 formalin-fixed resection specimens received in the histopathology laboratory were processed by CTP, LMP, and DMP processing methods. The specimens were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 24 hours. The sections were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) stain. In subgroup analysis, IHC was done on 17 relevant cases using two antibodies, Ki67 (Nuclear) and Pancytokeratin (Membranous and cytoplasmic). Parameters such as the clarity of section, cytoplasmic details, nuclear details, color intensity, and interface of epithelium and connective tissue were studied. Parameters like color intensity, localization of antigen, background staining, and crispness of staining were studied on IHC. The results were analyzed using Kappa statistics.
Results: There was a fair to moderate agreement between CTP and LMP. There was a slight to fair agreement between CTP to DMP and LMP to DMP.
Conclusion: Microwave tissue processing reduced the turnaround time. The overall quality of LMP tissue was better than DMP and was equally good as that of CTP.
