We do body fluids on the disposable hemocytometers. Then if our WBC count is greater than 10, we are required to do a cytospin and report out a differential. To make the cytospin we use one drop with albumin with several drops of specimen. Does anyone have any tips on how to make the best cytospin slides? My main complaint is that some of the slides I'm looking at have cells that are so compressed that I can't tell whether they are lymphs or segs. What about when the body fluid is so bloody?? How do I make a slide that isn't just over-crowded with RBC's? Any tips are greatly appreciated.

How are the disposable hemocytometers working for you? I have been trying to get our lab director to buy these but she insists the 2 glass hemocytometers we currently have are sufficient!

When I worked in cell path we just used to dilute it by eye but then we were doing hundreds of them a day... We would spin the sample, remove the supernatant, add buffered saline to dilute. We never added albumin to the sample as it seems to affect the morphology - we would put a drop of albumin on the slide and smear it over, then wipe it off (and wipe well) to give an adherance coating. One drop would be enough for 2-3 slides. The other option is PEG slides or electrostatically coated ones.

 

You could do a bit of an experiment to see which dilution makes the right cellularity for which cell count. ie if your cell count is 10-20, add 1ml of PBS. 20-30 2ml - I'm not saying those volumes will work but by standardising your cellularity, you can improve your spins.

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2015 at 8:48 AM, jschlosser said:

How are the disposable hemocytometers working for you? I have been trying to get our lab director to buy these but she insists the 2 glass hemocytometers we currently have are sufficient!

I have used them for years, and have just switched the hospital where I am now. Love them!

I put a few drops of sterile saline in a tube and add fluid until it is barely hazy. Use one or two drops of this to make the cytospin (no albumin unless it's CSF). It seems to work every time.

In general, if the total protein is high enough (we use a refractometer) we would cyto-spin non-bloody specimens as is.  If the protein is low, we add a drop of albumin to 1 ml of the specimen (common w CSFs).  The extra protein slows the rate at which the fluid is drawn into the filter paper -- allowing time for the cells to stick to the slide. 

For slightly bloody specimens, we may add a drop or two of saline.  For really bloody pleural fluids or whatnot, we simply make wedge smears.

Scott

I wipe my slide off really good before putting two to three drops of specimen in the cyto-spin.  Then I heat fix it to the slide let cool and then stain.  Works great for me.