Practical dermatopathology (textbook with CD-ROM)
Nidal A. Obaidat · Journal of Clinical Pathology · 2006
Intraoperative diagnosis using the frozen section techniqueRapid frozen section biopsies remain a common perioperative process, although accuracy rates are rarely considered.When error rates (or accuracy rates) are published, they generally include the reporting of general surgical specimens, where only the final report including paraffin wax embedded sections is taken into account.Although some pathologies are not suited to frozen section, the ability to confirm a tissue, extent of disease, pathological process, or resection margins remains vital to surgical practice.1 2 As with any diagnostic tool, there are specific limitations that allow errors to occur.These include the initial selection of tissue by the surgeon, the sampling of the tissue by the pathologist, the technical expertise required to prepare the slides, 3 errors in interpretation, and delivery of the result back to the surgeon.Published accuracy rates range between 84.8% and 98.34%, 4 with no recent assess- ment to our knowledge.Over an 18 month period, 240 cases were analysed by five consultant histopathologists.Review showed absolute accuracy in terms of frozen section diagnosis and paraffin wax section validation for most, with only three inaccuracies.