Is online teaching of pathology for undergraduates effective?

[摘要] Background: Inking enables precise assessment of the surgical margins, which has importanttherapeutic implications.Objectives: To determine the impact of using acetic acid and the method of air drying and fixation onthe retention, intensity and the original colour of the agent used.Method: A total of 120 lipomatous tissue sections measuring 1x1x0.5 cm were used, 60 sections werepainted with Fevicryl-black and 60 sections with Fevicryl-orange, the best and worst colours asdetermined in a previous study, respectively. 40/120 sections were used to assess the effect of aceticacid (20 with and 20 without acetic acid), and 20 sections each to assess four different methods of airdrying and fixation. All sections were routinely processed and stained. Three scores were obtained bytwo independent investigators; the retention along the circumference from 1-4 (1-25%-1, 26-50%-2,51-75%-3, 76%-100%-4), the intensity and preservation of the original colour (each graded as 1 - barelyvisible at x400, 2 - visible at x400, 3 - visible at x100, 4 - visible at x40). A composite grade was obtainedby the sum of the Z-scores of these three. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post hoc meancomparison (Tukey HSD) were performed to analyse the data.Results: There was a significant difference in standardized composite scores with respect to the useof acetic acid in case of the worst colour, orange (p = 0.0483) but none when considering the fourmethods adopted in air drying/ fixation.Conclusion: It is recommended that acetic acid is used routinely when inking specimens to obtainoptimal results.

[学科分类] 生理学与病理学