Introduction: The quality of the histological sections of gastrointestinal biopsies (GIB) affects the diagnostic possibilities. One aspect is the orientation of GIB, whereby sectioning perpendicular to the mucosal surface can be performed more readily. With the purpose to achieve correct orientation, GIB is occasionally mounted on millipore filter (MF) in an attempt to place the deep cut side onto the MF. The importance of this technique for section quality is evaluated in this study.
Material and method: The material comprised three consecutive series of GIB (60 gastric, duodenal, and colorectal GIB, respectively). Sections were grouped in MF-mounted versus non-mounted GIB, the proportion of fully acceptable sections among mounted versus non-mounted GIB was recorded.
Results: 77.2% of all GIBs were MF-mounted. 33.1% of mounted GIBs versus 48.8% of non-mounted GIBs were assessed as fully acceptable sections. The differences between these figures are not statistically significant. 41.7% of the mounted GIBs were placed with the mucosal surface facing the MF, which entails a risk of damaging the tissue.
Conclusion: MF-mounting of GIB did not contribute to section quality. Since the handling of such specimens by the pathology lab technicians resulted in extra workload, this technique cannot be recommended in routine diagnostic work-up, as judged from a pathologist"s point of view.