RICHARD-ALLAN SCIENTIFIC COMPANY 88008 Epredia

Elastic Stain Kit and its components are used as a special stain kit to identify elastic fibers. The elastic fibers stain black due to the dye lake created by the hematoxylin, ferric chloride and iodine mixture. The fibers are overstained and then differentiated with ferric chloride to break the dye-lake complex. To ensure fibers are not over-differentiated, slides should be examined during this step under the microscope. Elastic fibers will be stained black and sharply defined. The Van Gieson solution then counterstains the tissue with collagen staining red and other tissue structures, yellow. The Van Gieson solution will also remove some of the elastic fiber staining so the knowledge of a professional is required for adequate use. After staining, care should be taken in choosing a compatible mounting medium as some mountants can leach the picric acid from the Van Gieson counterstain.