The statement 'Skin sections are embedded so that the epithelial surface is facedown in the block' is true.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not applicable
• D. Depends on epithelium thickness

Answer: (B)

The key idea is how tissue is oriented in the paraffin block to expose the surface you want to study in the cut sections. For skin, the epithelial surface should be positioned toward the microtome blade so that the epidermis is near the cutting face. If the epithelial surface is facedown in the block, that layer sits deeper and the initial sections would mainly reveal dermis or be distorted, making it harder to evaluate the epidermal layer and the epidermal-dermal junction. The decision isn’t about how thick the epithelium is; it’s about bringing the surface of interest to the cutting face so you obtain clean, representative sections. So the statement is not correct.