Analysis of Key Influencing Factors Affecting the Quality of HE-stained Sections Based on Multifactor Logistic Regression Model

TIAN Shengjie; LIU Xingyuan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2096-305X.2026.01.012

Abstract：Objective To identify key adverse and beneficial factors by systematically investigating the relationship between various factors in the entire tissue preparation workflow and the quality of hematoxylin and eosin(H&E)-stained sections,providing a quantitative basis for quality control in the pathology department.Methods All sections from 2019 to 2023 were first defined as the sampling population.Subsequently,random sampling was performed using computer-generated random numbers,ultimately including 1,064 sections for analysis.All sections were graded for quality by pathologists.Binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between 15 technical parameters and the dichotomized section quality(optimal/non-optimal).A nomogram was constructed based on the results.Results Section quality was significantly associated with formalin fixation time,microtome service years,section thickness,tissue hardness,tissue homogeneity,presence of intra-tissue foreign bodies,and coverslipping procedure(P＜0.05).The nomogram,constructed based on the multivariable logistic regression model,can be used to identify key factors associated with the occurrence of suboptimal quality and to quantify the strength of their associations.Conclusion This multivariable analysis identified the main factors associated with the occurrence of non-optimal sections.Optimizing the preparation process should focus on the aforementioned steps to achieve standardization and continuous improvement in pathological section quality.