Staining

Philosophies surrounding staining practices vary widely among pathologists and institutions, ranging from the extreme "old school" approach involving H & E-based morphology only, through an intermediate approach directing one to get stains to prove what you think, to the "modern" extreme of extensive panels both to prove what you think and disprove the entire list of differentials.

The best practice as of this writing is probably closer to the "extreme" of getting extensive panels than some would like, particularly in certain subspecialties such as Hematopathlogy. Finding the delicate medium between the art of merging clinical history with H & E (or whatever your first-line stain may be) morphology and costly stains is both difficult and up to the individual. The aim is accuracy above all, balanced against cost, efficiency, and confidence in a diagnosis before or after extra staining.