Preparing a Tzanck Test

This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.

To the editor.—  I have been very pleased with the following method of preparing a Tzanck test. The material to be tested is spread with a No. 15 blade on a regular glass slide. A small drop of methylene blue is applied and immediately covered with a coverslip. This is examined directly as a wet preparation under the microscope. The nuclear detail is sufficient to distinguish easily giant and multinucleated cells. The methylene blue is readily available from any histopathology laboratory.