Prognostic Value of Frozen Section and Touch Imprint Cytology for Intra-operative Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Ovarian Tumors

Frozen section (FS) is a valuable method with high sensitivity and specificity which allows the surgeon to choose a suitable therapeutic plan in a short time. High cost and inaccessibility are the most important limitations of this method in many pathology laboratories. Touch imprint (TI) is a rapid and inexpensive method in this field. This study was performed with aim to compare the frozen section and touch imprint methods for intra-operative differentiation of benign and malignant ovarian tissues.

In this cross-sectional study which was performed in 2012, 45 ovarian tissue samples which had been sent to the pathology department of Mashhad Ghaem hospital were evaluated by three methods of frozen section, touch imprint and permanent paraffin. Data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (version 16) and cross tab test. P less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Accuracy of FS and TI were 97.8% and 84.4%, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity was 95.7% and 100% for FS and was 69.6% and 100% for TI. Moreover, Positive and negative predictive value was 100% and 96.6% for FS and was 72.7%% and 75.9% for TI.

FS is a sensitive and specific method for evaluation of malignancy tissues. TI alone cannot be replaced by this method, but if FS was not accessible, IT could be used as a rapid method for intraoperative evaluation of tissue samples.