The Verhoeff's Van Gieson control slide uses tissue from which structure?

• A. Aorta or Skin
• B. Brain
• C. Liver
• D. Kidney

Answer: (A)

Verhoeff's Van Gieson is used to visualize elastic fibers, so a control slide should come from tissue with abundant elastin to show a clear, crisp staining of elastic fibers. The aorta is a classic choice because its tunica media contains dense elastic lamellae, and skin dermis also has plenty of elastic fibers, making either suitable as a positive control. Tissues like brain, liver, or kidney have sparse or inconsistent elastic fibers, so they wouldn’t reliably demonstrate the stain’s ability to highlight elastin. In this stain, elastic fibers appear black, while the Van Gieson counterstain colors collagen pink and other tissue elements yellow, helping confirm that both stain components are working properly.