The use of paraffin-processed tissue and the immunoperoxidase technique in the diagnosis of bullous diseases, lupus erythematosus and vasculitis.
Twenty-two skin biopsies have been split and each half examined either by the immunoperoxidase technique on paraffin-fixed tissue or by both immunoperoxidase (IP) and immunofluorescence (IF) technique on snap-frozen tissue. All twenty-two specimens gave positive results by frozen IF techniques, nineteen out of twenty-two (86%) were positive by frozen IP techniques and sixteen out of twenty-two (72%) were  positive by IP on paraffin-fixed material. If retrospective immunopathology is required on a specimen and only paraffin-fixed material is available a positive result may be expected in the majority of cases.
D003874:Dermatitis Herpetiformis / Q000175:diagnosis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008179:Lupus Erythematosus, Discoid / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010232:Paraffin; D010391:Pemphigoid, Bullous / Q000175:diagnosis; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000175:diagnosis; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012872:Skin Diseases, Vesiculobullous / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000175:diagnosis*
D010232:Paraffin