Utility of sodium alginate cell block method

Diagnostic efficacy of the cell block method in comparison with smear cytology of tissue samples obtained by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration

“…Of the various CB methods, the CB method using SA is probably one of the simplest and most inexpensive methods for paraffin sectioning of minute specimens, as this method can be carried out at room temperature without additional special instruments [13][14][15].…”

“…EUS-FNA was repeated until a whitish thin paste on glass slides or floating fragments in a centrifuge tube were confirmed by the medical technician and a endoscopist. Cell block sections were made using the sodium alginate CB method [13][14][15], as illustrated in Fig. 2.…”

“…However, the CB method utilizes a much smaller number of cells for examination than smear cytology and usually necessitates complicated preparation. Recently, a CB method using sodium alginate (SA) has been reported to be simple and inexpensive [13][14][15]. We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of the CB method using SA in comparison with smear cytology of tissue samples obtained by EUS-FNA from patients with pancreatic tumors, abdominal tumors or swollen lymph nodes.…”

Prospective randomized controlled study comparing cell block method and conventional smear method for bile cytology

“…Also, complicated preparation is necessary for the majority of various types of CB methods such as the bacterial agar method, the plasma-thrombin clot method etc. 43 Following a report on the CB method using sodium alginate, 17 we evaluated the efficacy of this method with immunostaining and reported that it showed a higher diagnostic yield than smear cytology in patients who had undergone EUS-FNA. 14 We have also reported that the CB method with immunostaining for pancreatic juice cytology showed a much lower rate of equivocal borderline malignancy and a tendency to achieve a higher diagnostic yield compared with smear cytology.…”

Histopathological diagnosis of Japanese spotted fever using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsy specimens Usefulness of immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR analysis

“…The cells harvested 5 to 7 days after inoculation were fixed in 10% formalin overnight. Cell blocks of uninfected and infected L929 cells were prepared by a gelation method using sodium alginate membranes [13]. Cell blocks were also prepared from R. conorii (Malish strain)‐infected monkey Vero cells (Fuller Laboratories, Fullerton, CA, USA) fixed in 10% formalin.…”