title: Rapid immunostaining in Mohs: current applications and attitudes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rapid immunostaining in Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) has been extensively reviewed in the recent literature. Despite the recent attention, there is relatively little information on how frequently these techniques are actually utilized and the current attitudes of the Mohs community towards immunohistochemical (IHC) stains.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We attempted to obtain information on the utilization and attitudes towards the use of rapid immunostaining in Mohs through a survey of fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  A twenty-five question survey was sent to members of the American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) through various methods including SurveyMonkey(®) , email, fax, and Metrofax(®) .
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 378 surveys were completed. These responses represent a cross-section of fellowship-trained members of the ACMS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The vast majority of respondents felt as though IHC stains could be used reliably in Mohs. A subset of responses indicated that the most common reasons for not using IHC stains are time consumption, lack of education, and startup and/or maintenance costs. An increase in immunostain usage over 10 years ago appears to correlate with the activity in the literature. There may be an underutilization of IHC staining in fellowship programs, as indicated by respondents' opinions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, The University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA. jtrimble@health.usf.edu
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Trimble
authors.forename: Basil S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Cherpelis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors