1Senior Resident, Rani Durgawati Medical College, Uttar Pradesh
2Professor and Head, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George Medical University, Uttar Pradesh
3Professor, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George Medical University, Uttar Pradesh
4Additional Professor, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, King George Medical University, Uttar Pradesh
5Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh
*Corresponding Author Dr. Mohit Chauhan, MBBS, MD, DHM Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Room No 212, Level II, E-Block, Government Medical College & Hospital, Sector-32, Chandigarh-160030, India, Email: maahi474@gmail.com, chauhandrmohit@gmail.com
Online Published on 28 July, 2023.
Paraffin wax is the most routinely used embedding media for tissue fixation to achieve the histopathological diagnosis of malignancies related to various organs. However, the literature is astonishingly much scant about the statistics related to the extent of the diagnostic accuracy, and the scientific rationale for the usage of this embedding media.
This study was conducted to compare various parameters that assessed the efficacy of paraffin wax with an alternative embedding media i.e. beeswax.
Two sets of ten biopsy specimens embedded in paraffin wax and beeswax, were followed by Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. A comparison based upon parameters like length of the ribbons produced during microtomy, extent of the artefacts, integrity of the section, quality of the staining, nuclear and cytoplasmic staining characteristics, and lastly the background staining.
The beeswax showed good impregnation and embedding with tissue integrity quite perfectly maintained, showed lesser artefactual accentuation, and better preservation of the nuclear and cytoplasmic details, in comparison to the paraffin wax. Beeswax also required a lesser cooling time, with additional advantage of the easy flattening out at water bath floatation.
Beeswax can be used as a natural alternative to paraffin wax for tissue embedding under defined protocols.
Beeswax, Paraffin wax, Embedding, Impregnation, Hematoxylin and eosin stain
