Alvaro da Cunha Bastos

Frozen section biopsy of ovarian neoplasms

In a study of the frozen section biopsy of 120 ovarian neoplasms, correct results were obtained in 94.16%, incorrect in 4.16%, and inconclusive in 1.66% of the 120 cases. The “incorrect” results were all “false‐negative.” No inverse “false‐positive” results were recorded, and the “incorrect” results occurred in cases of encapsulated neoplasms of a macroscopically benign appearance with small areas of malignant changes detected only by paraffin block technique. The authors conclude that frozen section biopsy of ovarian neoplasm is plausible so long as a pathologist is available who can be provided with the proper equipment during the surgery and that the technique is more indicated in patients up to the age of 40 because of the necessity of conservative management in this age group.