A Novel Method Of Manual Construction Of Small Format Paraffin Tissue Micro Arrays (PTMAs) In A Center With A Minuscule Budget

Abstract

Background: To describe and assess a manual method of Paraffin Tissue Micro Array (PTMA)
Construction using simple equipment available in ghe most elementary pathology set ups.
Methods: In this article is described a manual method of PTMA construction. It requires simple
equipment available in the most elementary Pathology set ups. Paraffin blocks with preformed
holes in a 3x3 grid pattern were created and filled with tissue cores obtained by bone marrow
aspiration needles. A variety of tissue blocks was selected from the archives of Pathology Lab,
PGMI Lahore, yielding a total of 108 cores.
Results: Encouraging results were obtained. Only two tissue cores were lost. All the others
showed up well. There was no tissue folding, splitting or rolling up. Tissue cores were easily
recognizable as to source owing to larger diameter.
Conclusions: The technique is easy to reproduce, economical, quick, and creates uniform
blocks capable of yielding multiple sections. Though the number of cores per block is small, the
larger core diameter offers advantages of easier tissue handling and more accurate diagnosis. It
could form a modest foundation with a potential for improvement in future