Placental histology slide preparation
malaria, parasitaemia, ill
MALARIA, INFILTRATED
Placental histology slides were prepared at the Pathology Department of University of Ghana Medical School in Accra, Ghana. Placental tissues were processed by placing it in labelled Tissue Tek (Sakura Finetek USA Inc., USA) cassettes and fixed in 10% buffered formalin for 1.5 h. The tissues were dehydrated and cleared in two changes of xylene and infiltrated in molten paraffin wax at melting point of 56 °C. The tissues were embedded in the molten paraffin wax in cassettes to form tissue blocks. The tissue blocks were trimmed of excess wax and cut into thin sections using a microtome. The sections were fixed onto a microscope slide, de-waxed in three changes of xylene and hydrated in descending grades of ethanol and then transferred through 3 changes of absolute ethanol. The sections were then stained in haematoxylin and eosin, cleared in xylene for 5 min and mounted with DPX mountant. Using the methods described by Bulmer et al. [After delivery, infants were followed for 12 months. Community fieldworkers repeatedly visited participating households to check on the health of infant study participants and ill infants were referred to a study clinician for care. All illnesses were managed according to the Ghana National Treatment Guidelines. Where indicated, thick and thin blood smears were prepared to make a diagnosis of malaria parasitaemia as described by Swysen et al. [