Analysis of utility of frozen section in ovarian cancers

Abstract

Introduction: Ovarian tumors constitute a heterogeneous group of lesions which include benign, borderline and malignant tumors. A diagnostic tool which helps to identify various ovarian lesions with high degree of accuracy will help the surgeon to choose appropriate operating procedure. Aims and objectives: The basic aim of the study is to analyze the utility of frozen section in ovarian cancers. Material and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Yusra General Hospital during March 2018 to December 2018. This study was conducted with the permission of ethical committee of hospital. The following parameters were noted-age of the patient, size of the tumor, unilateral/bilateral, solid/cystic/solid and cystic. After gross examination, two to five sections were taken depending on the size and heterogeneity of the lesions. Sections of 4–5 microns were taken and rapid hematoxylin and eosin staining was done. After the frozen section analysis tissues were put in formalin and routine processing was done. Results: The data were collected from 237 ovarian cancer patients. The age group ranged from 14 to 86 years and the mean age was 46 years. The mean size of the tumors was 14 cm and ranged from 3 to 36 cm. In 29 cases, the lesions were bilateral. The distribution of various ovarian lesions according to permanent section result were as follows–27 nonneoplastic lesions, 153 epithelial tumors, 16 sex cord stromal tumors, 30 germ cell tumors and seven metastatic tumors. Conclusion: It is concluded that diagnostic accuracy rate for frozen section analysis is high for benign and malignant ovarian tumors, but remain relatively low for borderline ovarian tumors.