Efficacy of Touch Imprint Cytology in Intraoperative Diagnosis of Invasive Mucinous Adenocarcinoma of the Lung: A Case Report and Literature Review.

A preoperative diagnosis of the peripheral small lung nodule is often difficult, and an intraoperative frozen section diagnosis (FSD) is performed to guide treatment strategy. However, invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma (IMA) is prone to be overlooked because of the low sample quality and weak atypia. We herein report a case of IMA, in which touch imprint cytology (TIC) revealed diagnostic efficacy. A 74-year-old male with a small, subsolid nodule in the right upper lobe underwent a thoracoscopic wedge resection. A grayish brown, 10 × 7 mm-sized nodule was observed on the cut surface. Intraoperative FSD revealed lung tissue with mild alveolar septal thickening and stromal fibrosis but without overt atypia. Meanwhile, TIC revealed mucus and a few epithelial cells with intranuclear inclusions, which pathologists evaluated as reactive. Finally, focal organizing pneumonia was tentatively diagnosed, and surgery was finished without any additional resection. However, permanent section diagnosis revealed a microinvasive mucinous adenocarcinoma. Nuclear inclusions were confirmed in tumor cells. In the intraoperative setting, TIC may be more advantageous than FSD in observing nuclear inclusions and mucus. Mucinous background and nuclear inclusion on TIC may suggest IMA even if FSD does not suggest malignancy in an intraoperative diagnosis of the peripheral small lung nodule.

Analysis of intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of 1 263 pulmonary nodules / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To explore the key points and difficulties of intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of pulmonary diseases. Methods    The intraoperative frozen section and postoperative paraffin section results of pulmonary nodule patients in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2021 to January 2022 were collected. The main causes of misdiagnosis in frozen section diagnosis were analyzed, and the main points of diagnosis and differential diagnosis were summarized. Results    According to the inclusion criteria, a total of 1 263 frozen section diagnosis results of 1 178 patients were included in the study, including 475 males and 703 females, with an average age of 58.7 (23-86) years. In 1 263 frozen section diagnosis results, the correct diagnosis rate was 95.65%, and the misdiagnosis rate was 4.35%. There were 55 misdiagnoses, including 18 (3.44%) invasive adenocarcinoma, 17 (5.82%) adenocarcinoma in situ, 7 (35.00%) mucinous adenocarcinoma, 4 (2.09%) minimally invasive adenocarcinoma, 3 (100.00%) IgG4 related diseases, 2 (66.67%) mucinous adenocarcinoma in situ, 1 (16.67%) atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, 1 (14.29%) sclerosing pulmonary cell tumor, 1 (33.33%) bronchiolar adenoma, and 1 (100.00%) papillary adenoma. Conclusion    Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis still has its limitations. Clinicians need to make a comprehensive judgment based on imaging examination and clinical experience.

A Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment of Frozen Section Diagnosis Accuracy and Deferral Rate Across Organ Systems.

OBJECTIVES: Monitoring of frozen section diagnostic performance provides an important quality improvement measure. METHODS: Surgical specimens involving a frozen section diagnosis over a 3-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Glass slides were reviewed on cases with discordance. Discordance and deferral rates were calculated. RESULTS: Of 3,675 frozen section diagnoses included, 96 (2.7%) were discordant with the final diagnosis. Additionally, 114 frozen section diagnoses (3.1%) were deferred. The organ-specific discordance rates were lowest in breast and genitourinary specimens and highest for pancreas, lymph node, and gynecologic specimens. Deferral rates were highest in musculoskeletal, breast, and hepatobiliary cases and lowest in thyroid, parathyroid, and neuropathology cases. Discordance was explained by block-sampling error (45%), specimen-sampling error (27%), or interpretation error (27%). Discordant frozen section diagnoses from gynecologic specimens were responsible for 81% of specimen-sampling errors; frozen section diagnoses of lymph nodes, head and neck, and pancreas were responsible for 54% of interpretation errors; 51% of block-sampling errors involved lymph node evaluation for metastatic carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: Careful gross evaluation and microscopic examination of multiple levels should minimize specimen-sampling error and block-sampling error, respectively. Periodic review of accuracy and deferral rates may help reduce errors and improve the overall performance of this essential procedure.

Endoscopic Extended Transsphenoidal Approach for Sellar and Suprasellar Xanthogranuloma: Potential Implications for Surgical Strategies in Adult Craniopharyngioma.

OBJECTIVE: Differentiation of suprasellar xanthogranuloma (XG) from adult craniopharyngioma (CP) can be problematic in endoscopic extended transsphenoidal surgery. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical data, preoperative imaging, intraoperative endoscopic findings, and intraoperative frozen section pathology in newly diagnosed adult CPs (19 patients) and XGs (6 patients). RESULTS: Intracystic signal intensity was often high on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images in the XGs but low in the CPs (P = 0.015). Capsular intensity was low on T2-weighted imaging in XGs but iso to high in CPs (P < 0.001). Capsular gadolinium enhancement was often seen in CPs and not in XGs (P < 0.001). CPs often had a solid component with contrast enhancement but none in XGs (P < 0.001). Intraoperative endoscopic observations frequently found a whitish solid component in the CPs but yellow to brown fibrous granulomatous lesions in XGs (P < 0.001). The tumor capsule was dark grayish and soft in CPs, whereas it was fibrously hard in XGs (P = 0.002). Yellowish hemosiderin deposits were seen in all XGs (P = 0.003). Intraoperative pathologic diagnosis of CP was all verified whereas no evidence of tumor was found in XGs (P < 0.001). Partial removal was performed in 4 patients with XGs. No recurrence was observed in these patients during the follow-up period (1.5-8 years). CONCLUSIONS: Careful interpretation of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging, intraoperative endoscopic findings, and intraoperative frozen section diagnosis may be important for the differential diagnosis between XG and CP. In endoscopic-extended transsphenoidal surgery, intentional partial removal can be effective for XG after careful diagnosis.

Mesectodermal Leiomyoma of the Ciliary Body: A Unique Variant of Leiomyoma with Myogenic and Neurogenic Histological Features.

Mesectodermal leiomyoma of the ciliary body is a rare benign tumor, showing both neurogenic and myogenic characteristics. This tumor typically shows predilection for women of reproductive age. Because it is almost impossible to clinically distinguish this tumor from malignant melanoma, unnecessary eye enucleations have been unfortunately performed. Herein, we report a case of mesectodermal leiomyoma of the ciliary body in a young Japanese woman. She was referred to our hospital due to a slow-growing mass in her left iris. A malignant tumor could not be clinically ruled out and surgery with intraoperative pathology consultation was performed. Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis was a benign tumor with neurogenic features, and a simple excision of the tumor was performed. Histologically, the tumor was composed of diffuse growth of spindle cells with fibrillary indistinctive cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical examination showed diffuse positive staining of α-smooth muscle actin, h-caldesmon, calponin, and CD56. Scattered tumor cells were weakly positive for desmin. Neither melanocytic markers nor neural markers except for CD56 were positive. We diagnosed this tumor as mesectodermal leiomyoma. Mesectodermal leiomyoma is rare and often misdiagnosed as malignant melanoma. To avoid overtreatment, a correct preoperative diagnosis is essential.

Feasibility of intraoperative diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma in situ to avoid excessive resection.

BACKGROUND: Limited lung resection is generally believed to be available for lung adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS). At our institute, intraoperative hematoxylin-eosin staining of frozen-section slides is routinely performed for evaluating tumor invasiveness after partial resection to avoid excessive lung resection. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and usefulness of intraoperative frozen-section diagnosis of AIS. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 143 patients with 151 AISs diagnosed by intraoperative frozen sections between 2012 and 2019 at our institute. All patients underwent limited resection because of the result of intraoperative frozen-section diagnosis. RESULTS: The total concordance rate between the diagnoses of AIS by intraoperative frozen sections and postoperative paraffin-embedded sections was 82.7% for 151 nodules. Although 21 minimally invasive adenocarcinomas (MIA) and 5 invasive adenocarcinomas were diagnosed as AIS intraoperatively, no patient had tumor recurrence after resection. Among 125 pathologically proven cases of AIS postoperatively, there were 67 (53.6%) radiologically invasive tumors including ground-glass nodules (GGNs) with part-solid component or pure-solid nodules. CONCLUSIONS: This intraoperative evaluation of frozen-section slides will help surgeons avoid excessive lung resection for AIS that was radiologically diagnosed as invasive adenocarcinoma. Intraoperative frozen-section diagnosis will provide to be clinically useful and lead to less invasive surgical treatment for lung nodules.

Diagnostic accuracies of intraoperative frozen section and permanent section examinations for histological grades during open biopsy of bone tumors.

BACKGROUND: A histological diagnosis obtained from an intraoperative frozen section (FS) during biopsy confirms the adequacy of tumor tissue in the specimen. However, some cases show a discrepancy among the intraoperative FS diagnosis, permanent section (PS) diagnosis of the biopsy specimen, and the final diagnosis of the excised tumor specimen. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the diagnostic accuracy of the FS and PS for different types of bone tumors. METHODS: This study included 377 patients with 411 bone tumors who underwent tumor excision after an open biopsy with intraoperative FS diagnosis. FS, PS, and final diagnoses of the patients were classified into benign tumors/tumor-like lesions, intermediate malignancies, and malignant tumors. To assess diagnostic accuracy, the histological grades in FS and PS diagnoses were compared with those in the final diagnoses. RESULTS: The overall diagnostic accuracies of FS and PS were 93% and 97%, respectively. The accuracy of FS and PS for histological grade was 84% and 93% for chondrogenic tumors, 90% and 96% for osteogenic tumors, 97% and 98% for osteoclastic giant cell-rich tumors, 100% and 100% for tumors of undefined neoplastic nature, and 95% and 99% for other bone tumors, respectively. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that surgical planning based on PS diagnosis is recommended for chondrogenic and osteogenic tumors.

Accuracy of histological grades from intraoperative frozen-section diagnoses of soft-tissue tumors.

BACKGROUND: For excised tumor specimens, histological grades can differ between the biopsy diagnosis and the final diagnosis. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the diagnostic accuracies of histological grades for frozen-section and permanent-section diagnoses from patients with soft-tissue tumors. Frozen-section, permanent-section, and final diagnoses were classified as benign tumors/tumor-like lesions, intermediate malignancies, or malignant tumors. Diagnostic accuracies of the histological grades from the frozen and permanent sections were evaluated by comparing the final diagnoses for the resected specimens. RESULTS: The diagnostic accuracies of the histological grades for the frozen- and permanent-section diagnoses were 95% (387/408 lesions) and 97% (395/408 lesions), respectively. Among the tumor types, the diagnostic accuracies of the histological grades for the frozen-section and permanent-section diagnoses were 84% and 87% for adipocytic tumors, 87% and 91% for fibroblastic/myofibroblastic tumors, 99% and 100% for nerve-sheath tumors, 98% and 98% for fibrohistiocytic tumors, 90% and 98% for tumors of uncertain differentiation, 100% and 100% for vascular tumors, and 97% and 98% for other tumors, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Histological grades from frozen-section diagnoses yielded low diagnostic accuracies in adipocytic and fibroblastic/myofibroblastic tumors. Treatment should be planned based on permanent-section diagnosis and radiological findings for these tumors.

An effective inflation treatment for frozen section diagnosis of small-sized lesions of the lung.

BACKGROUND: The accuracy of intraoperative pathological diagnosis of small-sized pulmonary nodules including ground-glass opacity (GGO) is important for the surgeon to choose a suitable surgical procedure. Diagnosis of the small-sized lesions of the lung by frozen section (FS) is very difficult for the pathologist because of limited FS technology. Here we tested an effective inflation treatment for FS to improve the diagnostic accuracy of small-sized lung lesions. METHODS: The lung specimens were derived from 113 patients who underwent the surgery at Shanghai Chest Hospital in 2018-2019. The specimens were randomly divided into two groups-uninflated or inflated with diluted embedding medium (Tissue-Tek OCT; Sakura Finetek-USA, CA). The qualities of the FSs were compared with that of corresponding permanent paraffin sections. The FS diagnoses were compared with the final pathologic diagnoses of corresponding permanent sections. RESULTS: Our results showed that the quality of FS of lung tissue was excellent after inflation with diluted embedding medium (1:1). The total consistency between diagnosis of inflated FS and final pathological diagnosis was 85.7%. In control group, however, the consistency was only 70.2%. When the lesions were less than 1cm, the consistency between diagnosis of inflated FS and final pathological diagnosis was 90.3%, compared to 64.9% consistency in uninflated group (P=0.014, <0.05). When the lesions' computed tomography (CT) measurement threshold ≤-350 HU, the consistency between diagnosis of inflated FS and final pathological diagnosis was 88% compared to 73.2% consistency in uninflated group (P=0.071, >0.05). Accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were observed about 90% for adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), whereas it is drop to more than 80% for minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) in inflated FS. CONCLUSIONS: Inflation with diluted embedding medium (1:1) could make lung tissue expand well during FS. By using this method, small-sized lesions (especially less than 1 cm) could be correctly diagnosed to enable adequate surgical procedure, and evaluation of which can be easily based on the intraoperative pathological diagnosis. The small lesions especially AIS could be readily identified on FS. Therefore, this method improves the diagnostic accuracy of FSs for small-sized lung lesions, and has important practical consequences for further therapy.

The approach of scratch-imprint cytology: Is it an alternative to frozen section for intraoperative assessment of pulmonary lesions?

To address the diagnostic performance of scratch-imprint cytology (SIC), in this study we compared intraoperative diagnoses of pulmonary lesions between SIC and frozen section histology (FSH) for accuracy with respect to the final pathological diagnosis. We histologically divided 206 pulmonary lesions (resected surgically) into two groups (benign and malignant) and compared each intraoperative diagnosis by SIC and FSH with the final pathological diagnoses. We also examined the radiological existence of pure ground-glass opacity (GGO) nodules in each group. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 91.5%, 100%, 100%, 63.6%, and 92.6%, respectively for SIC, and 98.2%, 100%, 100%, 92.1% and 98.5%, respectively, for FSH. Thus, we concluded that diagnosis by SIC is reliable for malignancy, but not for benign lesions. All pure GGO nodules (19; 9.2%) were noninfectious and malignant with a high accuracy of FSH diagnosis (100%), in comparison with those of low accuracy with a SIC diagnosis (57.9%). SIC can be an appropriate intraoperative diagnostic tool where multiple cytotechnologists observe intraoperative SIC preparations scratched evenly across the whole lesion including the peripheral area of the mass.

Cerebral amyloid-ß-related angiitis without cerebral microbleeds in a patient with subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Amyloid-ß-related angiitis (ABRA), a subtype of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), is vasculitis occurring in relation to amyloid-ß (Aß) deposition in the walls of intracranial blood vessels. ABRA is presumed to be caused by some immune response to the deposited Aß. An 81-year-old man on oral anticoagulant therapy complained of headache, nausea, and difficulty with standing after a head injury. Head computed tomography revealed subcortical bleeding in the right temporoparietal lobe, and 3 days after admission, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) around the hematoma. Cerebral microbleeds, a characteristic of CAA, were not detected on MRI. On worsening of his symptoms, intracranial brain biopsy and hematoma removal were performed. Intraoperative rapid diagnosis with a frozen section suspected vasculitis, which enabled the prompt initiation of steroid therapy. He was pathologically diagnosed with ABRA (granulomatous angiitis) using a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded section. Vasculitis was prominent around blood vessels in the pia matter covering the cerebrum. In this case, the inflammatory cells seemed to appear via the subarachnoid space following cerebral hemorrhage and SAH. ABRA seemed to be developed by intracranial hemorrhage in this case.

Tumor enucleation for Castleman's disease in the pulmonary hilum: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The development of Castleman's disease in the pulmonary hilum is extremely rare. Although resection of only the lesion is sufficient because of its benign nature, lobectomy or more extensive procedures performed for the pulmonary hilar tumor have been reported. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 15-year-old male with a tumor in the right pulmonary hilum. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration was performed but no specific findings were obtained from the cytological and histological evaluation. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography showed moderate accumulation in the tumor, which suggested potential malignancy. Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis did not show any malignant findings. Thus, we performed only tumor enucleation without any lung resection. The pathological diagnosis was hyaline vascular type Castleman's disease. No recurrence has been observed for seven years. CONCLUSION: Because hyaline vascular type Castleman's disease in solitary pulmonary hilar tumor is one of the benign diseases common in young people, intraoperative frozen section diagnosis is recommended to avoid unnecessary lung resection.

Digital pathology is a practical alternative to on-site intraoperative frozen section diagnosis in thoracic surgery.

AIMS: Telepathology uses digitised image transfer to allow off-site reporting of histopathology slides. This technology could facilitate the centralisation of pathology services, which may improve their quality and cost-effectiveness. The benefits may be most apparent in frozen section reporting, in which turnaround times (TATs) are vital. We moved from on-site to off-site telepathology reporting of thoracic surgery frozen section specimens in 2016. The aim of this study was to compare TATs before and after this service change. METHODS AND RESULTS: All thoracic frozen section specimens analysed 4 months prior and 4 months following the service change were included. Demographics, operation, sample type, time taken from theatre, time received by laboratory, time reported by laboratory, TAT, frozen section diagnosis, final histopathological diagnosis and final TNM staging were recorded. The results were analysed with spss statistical software version 24. In total, there were 65 samples from 59 patients; 34 before the change and 31 after the change. Specimens included 51 lung, six lymph node, three bronchial, three chest wall and two pleural biopsies. Before the change, the median TAT was 25 min [interquartile range (IQR) 20-33 min]. No diagnoses were deferred. No diagnoses were changed on subsequent paraffin analysis. After the change, with the use of digital pathology, the median TAT was 27.5 min (IQR 21.75-38.5 min). This difference was not significant (P = 0.581). Diagnosis was deferred in one case (3.23%). There was one (3.23%) mid-case technical failure resulting in the sample having to be transported by courier, resulting in a TAT of 106 min. No diagnoses were changed on subsequent paraffin analysis. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in reporting times between digital technology and an on-site service, although one sample was affected by a technical failure requiring physical transportation of the specimen for analysis. Our study was underpowered to detect differences in accuracy.

Importance and accuracy of intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of the resection margin for effective carmustine wafer implantation.

For effective implantation of carmustine (BCNU) wafers, it is important to determine the order of priority with reference to the intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of the resection margin (IOFM). The accuracy of IOFM and patterns of tumor recurrence with implantation of BCNU wafers were studied retrospectively. Forty-six cases of newly diagnosed malignant glioma were evaluated. Tumors were resected after intraoperative frozen section diagnosis (IOFD). IOFM was performed for resection walls and evaluated on a three-level scale (-, no tumor invasion; 1+, minor cell invasion; 2+, evident cell invasion). The results were used for effective BCNU wafer implantation. The IOFM sections were then thawed, frozen-paraffin marginal (FPM) sections were prepared, and IOFM was evaluated with FPM sections. The accuracy of IOFD grading was compared to that of the formalin fixed paraffin-embedded section and was 76.1%. The accuracy of IOFM was compared with the FPM section in 148 specimens from 42 patients. The IOFM accuracy was 80.4%. BCNU wafers were implanted in 25 patients and there was recurrence in 15. Local recurrence was seen in 40% (6 patients). However, there was no recurrence immediately below the BCNU wafers. With properly performed IOFM, BCNU wafers can be efficiently implanted, and local recurrence immediately below the BCNU wafers can be inhibited.

Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis of bile duct margin for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of frozen section diagnosis (FSD) of bile duct margins during surgery for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 74 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for extrahepatic CCA from 2012 to 2017, during which FSD of bile duct margins was performed. They consisted of 40 distant and 34 perihilar CCAs (45 and 55 bile duct margins, respectively). The diagnosis was classified into three categories: negative, borderline (biliary intraepithelial neoplasia-1 and 2, and indefinite for neoplasia), or positive. FSD in the epithelial layer, subepithelial layer, and total layer was compared with corresponding permanent section diagnosis (PSD) postoperatively. Then, association between FSD and local recurrence was analyzed with special reference to borderline. RESULTS: Analysis of 100 duct margins revealed that concordance rate between FSD and PSD was 68.0% in the total layer, 69.0% in the epithelial layer, and 98.0% in the subepithelial layer. The extent of remaining biliary epithelium was comparable between FSD and PSD, and more than half of the margins lost > 50% of the entire epithelium, suggesting low quality of the samples. In FSD, the rate of negative margins decreased and that of borderline and positive margins increased according to the extent of the remaining epithelium. Diagnostic discordance between FSD and PSD was observed in 31 epithelial layers and two subepithelial layers. Alteration from borderline to negative was the most frequent (20 of the 31 epithelial layers). Patients with positive margin in the total and epithelial layers by FSD demonstrated a significantly worse local recurrence-free survival (RFS) compared with patients with borderline and negative margins, which revealed comparable local RFS. Patients with borderline and negative margins in the epithelial layer by PSD also revealed comparable local RFS. These results suggested that epithelial borderline might be regarded substantially as negative. When classifying the status of the epithelial layer either as negative or positive, concordance rates between FSD and PSD in the total, epithelial, and subepithelial layers were 95.0%, 93.0%, and 98.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: During intraoperative assessment of bile duct margin, borderline in the epithelial layer can be substantially regarded as negative, under which condition FSD is comparable to PSD.

Laparoscopic treatment for suspected gallbladder cancer confined to the wall: a 10-year study from a single institution.

OBJECTIVE: Although laparoscopic treatment of gallbladder cancer (GBC) has been explored in the last decade, long-term results are still rare. This study evaluates long-term results of intended laparoscopic treatment for suspected GBC confined to the gallbladder wall, based on our experience over 10 years. METHODS: Between August 2006 and December 2015, 164 patients with suspected GBC confined to the wall were enrolled in the protocol for laparoscopic surgery. The process for GBC treatment was analyzed to evaluate the feasibility of computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with frozen-section examination in identifying GBC confined to the wall. Of 159 patients who underwent the intended laparoscopic radical treatment, 47 with pathologically proven GBC were investigated to determine the safety and oncologic outcomes of a laparoscopic approach to GBC. RESULTS: Among the 164 patients, 5 patients avoided further radical surgery because of unresectable disease and 12 were converted to open surgery; in the remaining 147 patients, totally laparoscopic treatment was successfully accomplished. Extended cholecystectomy was performed in 37 patients and simple cholecystectomy in 10. The T stages based on final pathology were Tis (n=6), T1a (n=2), T1b (n=9), T2 (n=26), and T3 (n=4). Recurrence was detected in 11 patients over a median follow-up of 51 months. The disease-specific 5-year survival rate of these 47 patients was 68.8%, and rose to 85% for patients with a normal cancer antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) level. CONCLUSIONS: The favorable long-term outcomes demonstrate the feasibility of combined CT/MRI and frozen-section examination in the selection of patients with GBC confined to the gallbladder wall, confirm the oncologic safety of laparoscopic treatment in selected GBC patients, and favor measurement of preoperative CA19-9 in the selection of GBCs suitable for laparoscopic treatment.

Intra-operative evaluation of prophylactic hysterectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy specimens in hereditary gynaecological cancer syndromes.

AIMS: Prophylactic total hysterectomy (TH) and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) have become routine procedures in women at genetic risk for gynaecological malignancies. Intra-operative pathology diagnosis of an occult malignancy provides the opportunity for immediate surgical staging and helps to avoid a second surgery. However, no standard guidelines exist for optimal intra-operative evaluation (IOE) of these specimens. We performed a retrospective analysis of prophylactic TH and BSO cases to assess the presence of gross findings, frozen and permanent section sampling practices, frozen section diagnoses and diagnostic discrepancies. METHODS AND RESULTS: All prophylactic TH and BSO cases between 1990 and 2017 were retrieved from our departmental archives. A total of 413 cases were included in the study: 27 with Lynch syndrome (LS), 222 with germline BRCA 1 or 2 mutations and 164 cases with strong family or personal history (non-Lynch/non-BRCA). Only fewer than half of all cases (159 of 413; 38.5%) were sent for IOE, 15 of 27 (56%) LS cases, 93 of 222 (42%) BRCA cases and 51 of 164 (31%) non-Lynch/non-BRCA cases. A total of 19 patients (4.6% of patients combining all three groups) had a final diagnosis of malignancy or premalignancy on permanent sections. Of these 19 cases, eight had a corresponding gross lesion (42%) and could have been diagnosed on frozen section; however, only one of them underwent IOE. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the potential benefits and challenges of IOE in this setting and may provide a basis for future practice recommendations.

Striated duct adenoma presenting with intra-tumoral hematoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma-like histology.

Striated duct adenoma of the salivary gland is a rare benign tumor characterized by unilayered duct epithelium and striations of the tumor cell membranes. To the best of our knowledge, only six cases have been reported in the literature. Here we report an additional case, which was complicated by an intra-tumoral hematoma on clinical presentation and by papillary thyroid carcinoma-like histology on intra-operative frozen section diagnosis. An asymptomatic 78-year-old male presented with a two-year-history of a painless tumor of the left parotid. An intra-tumoral hematoma, which is unusual for a salivary gland tumor, was suspected from results of pre-operative radiology. The patient then underwent a left parotidectomy. The intra-operative frozen section diagnosis indicated a benign tumor, although ectopic papillary thyroid carcinoma was raised as a differential diagnosis since the eosinophilic tumor cells occasionally possessed nuclear grooves and nuclear pseudo-inclusions. By precise histopathological examination using paraffin sections, the tumor was finally diagnosed as striated duct adenoma. This type of tumor has unique features of hypervascular stroma and papillary thyroid carcinoma-like nuclei. In our case, the former feature was associated with the intra-tumoral hematoma and the latter feature, with difficulty in frozen section tumor diagnosis.

Potential role of increasing number of sections in frozen section diagnosis of ovarian tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of intraoperative frozen section of ovarian tumours at our institution and to identify the possible reasons for misdiagnosis. STUDY DESIGN: Between January 2002 and August 2013, a total of 684 patients were included in the study. Frozen section diagnosis was compared with the final paraffin section diagnosis as the gold standard. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of frozen-section diagnosis were calculated for benign, borderline and malignant tumours. Clinicopathological parameters influenced by misdiagnosis were evaluated performing multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The overall accuracy was detected as 96.1%. Frozen-section diagnoses of 26 patients (3.8%) showed discordance. The specificity (99.7%) and PPV (99.4%) of frozen-section diagnosis was highest in the malignant category. In BOTs, diagnostic agreement was observed in 57 of 70 (81.4%) cases. The PPV (81.4%) was lowest for these patients. Tumour diameter of ≥10 cm (OR [95% CI]= 3.0 [1.1 to 8.2]; P=0.030) and mucinous histology (OR [95% CI]= 2.5 [1.0 to 6.2]; P=0.042) were significant predictors of misdiagnosis. With the increase in the number of sections, the accuracy rate of frozen section diagnosis was decreased. While not statistically significant (p=0.361). CONCLUSION: The number of sections is increased parallel to increase in tumor diameters. On the contrary, the diagnostic accuracy was no significantly increased with an increase in the number of sections. This discrepancy may be associated with falling tumor size per frozen section. A prospective study based on a certain tumour diameter per frozen section may better demonstrate the positive effect of the number of sections.

Intraoperative core needle biopsy under complete video-assisted thoracic surgery for indeterminate tumor of lung.

BACKGROUND: The accuracy, feasibility, and safety of intraoperative core needle biopsy under complete video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) (V-CNB) for indeterminate tumors are examined retrospectively, as well as the possibility of pleural dissemination. METHODS: The diagnostic yield and complications of V-CNB were evaluated for a total of 95 patients who underwent V-CNB for indeterminate tumor during the period of April 2002 through March 2012. Moreover, operation time, number of auto-suture instruments used for resection of the lung, and pleural dissemination were compared between the patients who underwent V-CNB (n = 44) and those who did not (n = 87, non-V-CNB) among stage I primary lung cancer patients, for whom lobectomy was performed under complete VATS during the same period. RESULTS: Of the 95 patients, eighty three had primary lung cancer, four had metastatic lung cancer, and eight had benign tumor. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 94.3, 87.5, and 93.7%, respectively. There were no complications associated with V-CNB. Among stage I primary lung cancer, for which lobectomy and lymph node dissection were performed, there was no significant difference between the V-CNB group and the non-V-CNB group for tumor size (23.5 and 24.7 mm, p = 0.482), distance between pleura and tumor (3.4 and 5.0 mm, p = 0.202), operation time (228 and 217 min, p = 0.186), and number of auto-suture instruments used for resection of the lung (4.77 and 4.61, p = 0.533). There was no pleural dissemination in the V-CNB group, although there were two cases (2.3%) in the non-V-CNB group. CONCLUSION: V-CNB diagnosed small-sized indeterminate lung tumors accurately during complete VATS operation, without any complications. V-CNB can reduce the use of auto-suture instruments necessary for performing wedge resection on frozen section diagnosis prior to lobectomy without increasing operation time and the risk of pleural dissemination.