accuracy of frozen section diagnosis-exprience of a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

A retrospective study of Frozen Section [FS] diagnosis was performed in a 400-bed teaching hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, to determine the indications, advantages and accuracy of this method. A total of 580 specimens were examined during the period 1983 - 1991 with an overall diagnostic accuracy rate of 89.3%. Ninety seven of the specimens received [16.7%] were for evaluation of resection margins, detection of lymph node metastasis or identification of tissue type, with an accuracy rate of approximately 99%. The rest, [n = 483, 83.3%] were for tissue diagnosis of unknown pathological processes, with an accuracy rate of 87.4%. The five most common sites for FS procedures were Central nervous system [CNS] 19.1%, gastrointestinal tract 18.3% thyroid 15.3%, lymph nodes 13.1%, and breast 7.2%. FS failure was due to sampling error, insufficient sampling by the surgeon or pathologist, judgment error by the pathologist or because further laboratory investigations and stains were needed to reach a diagnosis