Use of methyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol as alternatives to ethyl alcohol in tissue processing

Abstract

Objectives: Ethyl alcohol, although commonly used in tissue processing is more expensive than methyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol. This study was performed to compare the quality of dehydration of ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol, used alone and in combination to assess the cost effectiveness of using these dehydrating agents.

Method: A total number of 50 different types of specimens were processed using ethyl, methyl, isopropyl and a combination of methyl and isopropyl alcohol. All 200 sections processed were stained with haematoxylin & eosin and assessed by a scoring system to assess quality of sectioning, preservation, physical characteristics and staining. The sensitivity and specificity of each method taking ethyl alcohol as the standard and the cost benefit by using each method was assessed.

Results: All three methods had high sensitivity and specificity for quality of cutting, preservation, physical characteristics and staining with a significant cost benefit observed for methyl alcohol followed by the combination of methyl and isopropyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol.

Conclusion: A high sensitivity and specificity for quality of sections were observed by using methyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol and a combination of methyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol as alternative dehydrants to ethyl alcohol with a significant cost benefit.