Vol. 7 Issue 1 Part A

Background: Frozen section (FS) technique was first introduced by the William H. Welch, from John Hopkins Hospital in 1891. By the early and mid-1920s, the technique became popular and was used for intra-operative consultation practice. The preparation of frozen section was made easier in the 1950s and 1960s by the development of the modern cryostat, a cabinet cooled to - 20 to - 30 degree Celsius and enclosing a microtome blade. Frozen section is a multistep process involving surgical resection, preparation of slides and their microscopic examination, communicating frozen section diagnosis to surgeon and processing the remaining tissue for further work up. The main purpose of frozen section is to provide rapid diagnosis to guide intra or peri-operative patient management.

Identification of tissue and unknown pathological processes.

Evaluation of margins.

Identification of lymph node metastasis.

Co-relation of frozen section diagnosis with routine histo-pathological diagnosis.

Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on 50 patients. The gross specimens were cut into thin slices and examined. Sections were taken from abnormal, suspected areas, or from firm lesions and placed in a mounting medium (OCT).

Results: Overall Concordance rate of 94% was obtained for Frozen section & histopathological diagnosis with 86.7% accuracy in ovary cases, 83.3% accuracy in breast cases and 100% accuracy in testis, GIT, thyroid, endometrium, salivary gland, retroperitoneal region, brain tissue and margins evaluations.

Conclusion: The frozen section diagnosis is very useful for intra-operative diagnosis of doubtful lesions & for deciding adequate margin excision in case of malignancy. It is a rapid method for interpretation of surgical tissue for further operative management. Better communication of pathologist and surgeon will reduce interpretation error leading to high diagnostic accuracy & new improved standard of care.