The Accuracy of Imprint Cytology in the Intraoperative Diagnosis of Lymph Node Metastasis in Gastric Cancer Surgery

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Intraoperative assessment of lymph node status is important when performing limited surgery in gastric cancer patients. Currently available techniques are frozen section, imprint cytology, and other molecular methods, and most current studies use the frozen section method. In the present study, the authors focused on the accuracy and the feasibility of imprint cytology as a tool to assess the lymph node status intraoperatively in gastric cancer surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between April 2001 and March 2003, we performed imprint cytology of the sentinel nodes of 260 consecutive patients. After review by an experienced cytopathologist, the sensitivity, the specificity and the overall accuracy were determined. RESULTS: The time required for intraoperative imprint cytology was 8 minutes, and the sensitivity, the specificity and the overall accuracy were 52.2%, 88.8%, and 73.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Imprint cytology can be a useful technique for assessing lymph node status intraoperatively if the sensitivity and the specificity can be improved to an acceptable level.