Ammoniacal silver staining of lymph node cells. I. its potential value for the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease.

Lymph node biopsy specimens from 76 cases of Hodgkin's disease, 23 non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and 19 reactive affections of lymph nodes were studied. Formalin-fixed and paraffin embedded tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and post-formalin ammoniacal silver staining was used after BLACK and ANSLEY. The presence of basic protein accumulation in the cytoplasm of both Sternberg and Hodgkin cells was confirmed. To our knowledge it is the first report concerning the presence of these accumulations in the cytoplasma of atypical reticulum cells in Hodgkin's disease and in 3 of 7 cases of reactive follicular hyperplasia, in foreign body giant cells and in some lymphoblasts from 5 cases of Hodgkin's disease. The possibility of using the ammoniacal silver staining for identifying Sternberg cells is discussed. Also, it is proposed that when Sternberg cells are absent, the ammoniacal silver staining pattern of Hodgkin cells in an appropriate histological setting may be very indicative of Hodgkin's disease.