Basophilic staining in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Report of three cases.
Material filling the alveoli in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis has been shown to be eosinophilic by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining of lung tissue. No previous evidence has suggested a different result from a frozen section. We noted three cases, in 1972, 1973, and 1982, of basophilic staining of this characteristic alveolar material on unfixed, frozen sections; these cases later showed the usual eosinophilic properties when HE staining was performed at room temperature on formaldehyde solution-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections. These observations are important in that failure to recognize this possibility may initially lead the surgical pathologist away from the correct diagnosis or falsely suggest a problem in stains or staining techniques.
D000328:Adult; D001491:Basophils / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011649:Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis / Q000473:pathology*; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology; D013194:Staining and Labeling