Bone Marrow Smears - Siemens Hematek Operating Manual

Bone Marrow Smears

BIOHAZARD
Wear personal protective equipment. Use universal precautions. Refer to Appendix A,
page A-1 for recommended precautions when working with biohazardous materials.
Many laboratories stain bone marrow smears with the same stain as is used for blood
smears. The procedure involves using the "squash" technique for smear preparation and
staining the slide once or twice on the Hematek Slide Stainer. The following procedure has
been verified as giving clinically useful staining results on bone marrow slides; however,
the stain quality is dependent upon the thickness and evenness of the bone marrow smear.
A thick smear is more likely to require a second pass through the instrument than a thinner
smear; an uneven smear will not stain uniformly.
1. Use bone marrow smears that have been prepared using the "squash" technique.
Be sure the smear is thoroughly dry before staining.
2. Place the slide onto the Hematek Slide Stainer and stain according to instructions in
Section 3: Operating Instructions.
3. Remove the slide after it has been stained and examine it under high power (dry) for the
staining quality.
Do not use any oil on the slide for this examination.
4. If the slide is under-stained, place it on the slide stainer again and stain it a second
time. In rare instances, a third staining may be necessary.
When using the Hematek Modified Wright Stain Pak (#4481), the bone marrow
smears must be stained twice; one pass through the instrument is generally insufficient
to produce distinct nuclear intensity. A third pass generally does not increase or
decrease the quality of the staining.
When using the Hematek Modified Wright-Giemsa Stain Pak (#4405), a single
staining is generally sufficient for most bone marrow smears. The smear may become
over stained, with the appearance of precipitate and nuclear artifacts, on slides stained
two or more times.
5. Thoroughly clean the platen after staining bone marrow slides to remove the greasy
residue that can be left on the platen by the fat droplets in the marrow
Section 4: Specimens, Page 4—5