Experience with an automated microwave-assisted rapid tissue processing method: validation of histologic quality and impact on the timeliness of diagnostic surgical pathology.

We studied the effect of a fully automated microwave-assisted rapid tissue processor (RTP) on histologic examination and on the turnaround time for surgical pathology reports. A quality assurance program reviewed the histologic sections obtained by the rapid processing method for the last 3 calendar years. In addition, the histologic results from this method were compared blindly with those obtained from the conventional overnight tissue processing (CTP) method by 9 pathologists with different levels of experience. The surgical pathology turnaround times for 1 year of use of the RTP were compared with the last year for CTP. We found that the RTP reproducibly yielded histologic material comparable in quality to CTP. The turnaround time for surgical pathology reports was improved substantially, and, in particular, same-day reporting was achieved in approximately 55% of cases compared with fewer than 1% before use of the RTP. Moreover, use of the RTP enhanced safety by eliminating formalin and xylene from the procedure.