Abstract
The hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain is the most common method used worldwide for routine pathologic evaluation of tissue specimens. Evaluation of cutaneous specimens frequently requires differentiation of elastic fibers, melanin, hemosiderin, fungal elements, mast cells and depositions. For this reason, we used acid‐orcein and Giemsa (AOG) stain to evaluate various skin disorders to determine the extent of utility of this infrequently reported stain. As expected, AOG stain functioned well as an elastic fiber stain, highlighting loss of elastic fibers in areas of scar and in disorders such as anetoderma. In pigmentary disorders, AOG stains melanin a dark green to greenish‐black pigment while hemosiderin remained yellow‐brown to light green color. Fungal hyphae in superficial dermatophytosis and leishmania organisms stained a deep blue. Amyloid stained a “sky” blue color in macular, lichenoid and nodular amyloid cases. The granules of mast cells stain purple in cases of urticaria pigmentosa and mastocytomas. Dermal mucin stained metachromatic lavender. Due to the multifunctional nature of the AOG stain, this simple technique can improve dermatopathologic diagnosis while decreasing the number of special stains necessary to have available in the laboratory setting.
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