Orth's solution is not good for general purpose fixation; it is preferred for demonstration of chromaffin granules in the adrenal medulla to diagnose pheochromocytoma. Which statement is true?

• A. It is not a general purpose fixative
• B. It is the best all-around fixative
• C. It preserves lipids best
• D. It cross-links DNA most effectively

Answer: (A)

Orth's solution is a specialized fixative designed to preserve and reveal chromaffin granules in the adrenal medulla so they can be demonstrated for diagnosing pheochromocytoma. Because of its targeted purpose, it is not a general-purpose fixative suitable for routine tissues, where balanced preservation of nuclei, cytoplasm, and overall morphology across many stain methods is needed. It excels at highlighting chromaffin granules, but this comes at the expense of versatility for standard histology, so it isn’t the fixative you’d use for everyday work. It does not inherently provide the best lipid preservation, since lipid compatibility varies with fixatives and often requires different approaches. And while fixatives do cross-link some DNA, Orth's solution isn’t known for maximizing DNA cross-linking compared with common aldehyde fixatives.