Frozen and paraffin sections - Comparative study highlighting the concordance and discordance rates in a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Aim: Frozen section is a highly accurate and useful procedure wherein knowledge of the clinical presentation, good rapport with the operating surgeon, pathologist's experience and in depth knowledge of the subject, awareness of the limitations of the procedure, ability to provide a rapid and reliable diagnosis under pressure are of great importance. The correlation between intra operative frozen section diagnoses with final histopathological diagnosis is an integral part of quality assurance in surgical pathology. The indication, methodology, discordance of result, causes for the discordance and deferrals were analysed to improve the accuracy of frozen section diagnosis and to minimise the avoidable errors. Method: This present study was a retrospective analysis of 51 cases of frozen section biopsy, diagnosed and reported in our tertiary care hospital pathology department over a period of one year. Taking the paraffin section diagnosis as the gold standard, the diagnoses on frozen sections were compared with the final diagnosis on paraffin sections to assess the concordance and discordance rates between both. Results: The overall concordance rate over a period of one year was 92%, discordance rate was 2% and deferred diagnosis was 6% in our institution. Conclusion: In this study conducted in our tertiary care hospital, the results obtained were similar to those cited in various articles published .Diagnosis made by frozen section is a very useful and accurate procedure provided correct guidelines are followed and its limitations understood.