FROZEN SECTION DIAGNOSIS: AN EXPERIENCE AT THE INSTITUTE (CHUGHTAI’S LAHORE LAB, LAHORE)

Abstract

Background: Frozen section based histological diagnosis is required by the surgeon(s) to make immediate intraoperative decision(s) So, high accuracy of frozen section is important for the reporting surgical pathologist(s) and surgeon(s) to make subsequent on-table decision for the management of the patient.
 Objective: To assess the concordance of frozen section histological diagnosis reported in our institute by comparing it with subsequent final histological diagnosis.
 Material & Methods: Biopsy specimens 100 patients submitted for frozen section diagnosis were included in the study. The diagnosis rendered on fresh frozen section was compared with the diagnosis rendered on paraffinembedded formalin-fixed section of the same specimen.
 Results: Male-to-female ratio of the patients included in the study was 2:1 with mean age of 48.70 years. The diagnosis could be rendered in 99 cases, while in 1 case diagnosis was deferred to permanent sections (deferral rate: 1%). There was no difference found between the frozen section diagnosis and the final diagnosis in 97 (concordance rate: 97.9%) cases.
 Conclusion: Frozen section-based histological assessment for diagnosis and/or surgical resection margins status is a reliable technique in terms of its timely and accurate reporting and low deferral rate.