The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of the mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue stain in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (HP) and goblet cell intestinal
metaplasia (IM) in comparison to the more commonly used Giemsa and
hematoxylin and
eosin (H&E) stains. Pathological blocks of gastric tissues obtained from January 2006 to December 2007 were recut and processed for Giemsa and a mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue stains. Clinical data regarding the patients were collected and previous slides
stain with H&E from gastric tissues were reviewed. The Giemsa and the mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue stains were studied by a pathologist who was blinded to the pathological and clinical data. Direct comparisons were made between the stains for diagnosis of HP. Of 423 cases studied the concordance rate was 97.8% (kappa value=0.947, p< 0.05). Using the mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue stain, 4.3 % of goblet cell IM which were not detected by H&E
stain were additionally identified. The prevalences of HP
infection diagnosed by Giemsa, the mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue, and H&E stains were 72.1%, 72.3%, and 71%, respectively. In conclusion, the mixture of
carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue stain can be used in place of
Giemsa stain for the identification of HP, and is probably preferable because of its low cost and is less time-consuming.
Carbol fuchsin and
alcian blue which are commonly available
dyes are more beneficial than
Giemsa stain and aid in identifing goblet cell IM undiagnosed by conventional H&E
stain.