The presence of a dark, opaque, granular precipitate throughout a section fixed in Zenker's or B-5 fixative is likely:
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: Mercury pigment
Fixatives containing mercuric chloride leave behind a metallic mercury precipitate. This must be removed during the staining process using an iodine-sodium thiosulfate sequence.
Keep practicing
More Histological Artifacts questions
- If a tissue section appears 'cloudy' or 'milky' after clearing with xylene and before mounting, what is the most likely cause?
- What histological artifact is caused by the slow rate of fixative penetration, leading to enzymatic degradation of the tissue center?
- Which artifact results in a 'shish-kebab' or 'telescoping' effect where tissue layers are pushed into one another?
- Which of the following can cause the 'knife line' artifact, seen as a straight vertical tear across the section?
- A 'double contour' or 'ghosting' of nuclei is often an artifact related to:
- The loss of glycogen from hepatocytes in a tissue section is most commonly an artifact of: