Evaluation of Artifacts in Oral and Maxillofacial Histopathological Slides

Introdouction:One of the reasons that cause a pathologist to make an incorrect diagnosis includes artifacts leading to tissue changes and artificial structures in microscopic slides. The aim of this study was to examine the artifacts in histopathological slides in Zahedan School of Dentistry.
In this cross-sectional study, all the available slides in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Archive at the School of Dentistry during 1999–2015 were evaluated for existing artifacts. The artifacts found in the slides were divided into the following three categories: 1) caused by a surgeon’s performance, 2) resulting from sample transfer to laboratory, and 3) arising from a technician’s performance. Then, the frequency of each type of artifact was calculated in numbers and percentages and analyzed with the proportions of two populations test.
All the 658 histological slides contained artifacts. Moreover, 96.5% of the artifacts were associated with a technician’s performance, and 90.4% were associated with a surgeon’s performance. The proportion of difference between the two types of artifacts was statistically significant (P value = 0.001). The most common artifacts resulting from technicians’ performances included formalin pigmentation, folding, and bubble. However, the most common artifacts resulting from surgeons’ performances were split, crush, and hemorrhage.
The results of this study indicated that there was a high frequency of artifacts in oral histological slides. Retraining courses seemed to be helpful for practitioners involved in preparation of slides, in addition to increased cooperation of surgeon–pathologist, which can reduce the risk of artifacts.