title: Iron gallein elastic method---a substitute for Verhoeff's elastic tissue stain.
abstract: A method for staining elastic fibers in formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections is described. After deparaffinizing and dehydration, sections are stained for 30 minutes in a solution prepared by mixing equal parts of 1% gallein dissolved in ethylene glycol and absolute alcohol (1:4), and 1.16% aqueous ferric chloride in 1% hydrochloric acid. The sections are washed in water and then differentiated in 2% ferric chloride for 2 minutes. After washing in water, the sections are counterstained with a variant of Van Gieson's picric acid-acid fuchsin for 1 minute. The results are similar to Verhoeff's elastic stain with elastic fibers staining black. An advantage to this staining procedure is that visually controlled differentiation is not necessary.
mesh_terms: D001011:Aorta; D004547:Elastic Tissue; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D007668:Kidney; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D007501:Iron