From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-03-07 00:21:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Vet question:
Well, it depends on the size of an object, and what it is. Bisection
is not a problem in many things, if you make one cut and make it a
clean one. For photographing many organs, for example kidneys, I
will bisect them, so I can photograph one side with the capsule
showing and one side with the pelvis showing. If I can remember,
I'll post one of these images.
there are some problems with cutting before fixation. Many "soft
organs", like adrenals or brains, cut much better after fixation, as
they tend to harden in the fixative. Most adrenals that people have
cut at surgery to look at, end up fairly crushed. I'm not saying to
send inthe whole liver or the whole spleen - a slice is just as nice -
but there is no need to cut into a lymph node, or an adrenal, for
instance. You really can't see much until they are fixed anyway -
that's when the nodules become grossly visible.
And anything that is really neat - either photograph it before
cutting it or don't cut it. Send it to me, and I'll photograph it
for you. (That's a service that Antech doesn't offer, I'll bet!)
Bruce
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Karen Purcell, DVM" <drkaren@w...>
wrote:
> >SNIP> In ferrets, I don't think that I
> > have ever seen a nidus cause hairball formation. But vets like
to
> > cut things up anyway.
> >
> > Pathologists hate this - we like to photograph good stuff, but
it's
> > tough when everything comes in like hamburger. OK all you vets -
if
> > it looks interesting, paws off! I'll even send you a picture of
it
> > if I find anything good!
> >
> Hey, I was taught to cut everything in half (except hairballs)
> before putting it in formalin!! Maybe I should stop? Wouldn't
want
> to get all these pathologist mad (why don't they tell us these
things
> ?)
>
> -Dr. Karen
> drkaren@w...