The ultimate Wright-Giemsa stain: 60 years in the making

Abstract

Wright-Giemsa staining is a common procedure that is performed routinely in hematology laboratories. Consistency in intra-laboratory staining quality is essential for accurate morphological interpretation of blood smears. Although the Wright-Giemsa stain can be challenging to perform, the methods illustrated here have provided consistent, high quality stains in the Special Hematology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota for over half a century. We outline methods for collecting blood specimens, preparing the slides and performing a Wright-Giemsa stain using our combination of reagents. Various techniques that have been passed down in our laboratory for troubleshooting suboptimally stained specimens are shared as well.

Key words::

• artifacts
• blood smear preparation
• blood smear staining
• peripheral blood collection
• troubleshooting
• Wright-Giemsa stain

Acknowledgments

We thank the technologists in the Special Hematology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, for their advice in preparing this manuscript and for allowing us to view perfectly stained blood smears on a daily basis. In particular, we thank Jan Flemming, CLS, for purposely sabotaging blood smear preparation and staining to illustrate the various problems that can arise while preparing a Wright-Giemsa stained smear.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.