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Supravital staining of synovial fluid with testsimplets
Author(s) -
Reginato Antonio J.,
Maldonado Irama,
Reginato Anthony M.,
Falasca Gerald F.,
O'Connor Carolyn R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
diagnostic cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1097-0339
pISSN - 8755-1039
DOI - 10.1002/dc.2840080211
Subject(s) - medicine , synovial fluid , staining , pathology , osteoarthritis , alternative medicine
We explored the use of Testsimplet (TS) in synovial fluid (SF) analysis. TS is a glass slide coated with a dry mixture of methylene blue and cresyl violet, which in contact with one drop of SF provides a stained fresh preparation. We applied the TS to the study of 159 SFs of patients with different rheumatic diseases. In those SFs of patients with crystal‐associated diseases, the crystal search was performed both on unstained preparations and with TS. TS was as good as the Wright's and Papanicolaou stain in characterizing SF cells, lupus erythematosus cells, and detection of occasional bacteria. TS allowed a better visualization of Reiter's cells, cartilage fragments, synovial villi, fat droplets, and fibrin. Crystals were identified in every TS of those patients with crystal‐associated diseases. TS is a rapid and reproducible method of SF supravital staining. Crystals are well preserved for simultaneous examination with compensated polarized light. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.