Correlation of intraoperative frozen section reporting with histopathological diagnosis in central nervous system tumors – A study of 30 cases

Abstract

Introduction: Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors, though relatively less common (approx 2% of all tumors), display a gamut of clinical and histological presentations. Frozen section analysis in CNS tumors in a known modality which can be a beneficial tool with potential to guide intra-operative management and a likelihood of bettering outcomes. Our study aims to ascertain the correlation and concordance between intra-operative frozen section diagnosis with final histopathological diagnosis in CNS tumors. Methods: We studied a total of 30 cases of CNS tumors for which frozen section was carried out and the same were compared with the diagnosis after final histopathological examination. For statistical analysis SPSS software version 20.0 (IBM, Armonk, New York, USA), Pearsons's correlation coefficient Test and Chi square test were used. Results: Out of the 30 cases studied, 24 cases (80%) were completely concordant, 05 cases (16.7%) were partially concordant and 01 case (3.3%) was discordant. Considering the concordant and partially concordant cases, the sensitivity was estimated to be 96.7%. Conclusion: Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis encompasses certain limitations in layered diagnosis. Despite the limitations of retrospective studies, this study highlights its diagnostic value as a rapid and reliable method for accurate diagnosis of CNS tumors.

Keywords

• central nervous system tumors
• frozen section diagnosis
• intraoperative