Comparison of the Accuracy of Frozen Section in Morning and Afternoon Working Hours for Axillary Lymph Node Biopsy

Abstract

Background: The role of diagnostic pathology has become more prominent. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of frozen section compared with permanent section in the morning and afternoon working hours. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 99 patients with stage 1 and 2 breast cancer who underwent sentinel and non-sentinel lymph node biopsy between 2013 and 2015 were included. The results of frozen section and permanent pathology of the lymph nodes were compared with one another. The time of pathologic evaluation including morning (before 2pm) and afternoon (after 2 pm) was also considered in the comparative analysis. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.58±8.96 years. The accuracy of frozen section biopsy of the sentinel lymph node was 79.80%, 81.0%, and 78.0% in general, before 2 pm, and after 2 pm, respectively. The accuracy of frozen section biopsy of the non-sentinel lymph node was 62.32%, 65.1%, and 57.7% in general, before 2 pm, and after 2 pm, respectively. Conclusions: There was no difference in the accuracy of the frozen section biopsy before and after 2 pm for the sentinel or non-sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Keywords

• Breast cancer
• Lymph node di-ssection
• pathology
• working hour