The chloroacetate esterase reaction for mast cells in dermatopathology: a comparison with metachromatic staining methods.

This paper compares standard metachromatic methods with Leder's chloroacetate esterase reaction on mast cells in paraffin wax-embedded tissue of urticaria pigmentosa and a variety of inflammatory and benign neoplastic cutaneous conditions. Our conclusions are that Leder's method allows easier identification of mast cells and can be a useful adjunct to conventional metachromatic methods. The technique could be conveniently adopted in routine dermatopathology for mast cell identification.