INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate different alternative tissue microarray (TMA) techniques and to make adaptations, combining different tissue punch and TMA block construction techniques in order to introduce easily reproducible, operational and cost effective TMA techniques in the Oral Pathology Laboratory of Pernambuco College of Dentistry, State University of Pernambuco. METHODS: Four donor punch techniques and two TMA block construction techniques were performed, resulting in a total of eight possible combinations. For each combination three TMA blocks were made, containing 9, 16 and 32 samples, respectively. They were evaluated as to sample loss, cost effectiveness, construction time and difficulty. RESULTS: For blocks with 9 samples, combination 2 was the most appropriate; for blocks with 16, combination 6 was the most efficient; and for blocks with 32, combination 1 was the most cost effective. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the combination choice depends on the number of samples to be put in TMA blocks.
Tissue microarray; Laboratorial processing; Donor blocks; Specimen combination
