Reconsidering the H&E stain as the gold standard in assessing the depth of burn wounds

While histological examination is considered by most as the gold standard for burn depth assessment, it has no practical use in the clinical setting. It has, however, been used in the research setting, as a mean for evaluating emerging techniques of depth measurement. Due to the limitations of the H&E stain, other stains have also been explored, such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), as presented in this issue, in Improving the Histologic Characterization of Burn Depth. As the determination of burn depth is not a typical subject in dermatopathology, a summary of selected techniques and the possible role for the LDH stain in future research, is described herein.