Role of Intraoperative Frozen Section in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Tumors: Experience at Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute

Background The surgical management of ovarian tumors depends on their correct categorization as benign, borderline or malignant. Ovarian neoplasms are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in women. Purpose This study was undertaken to evaluate the accuracy of intraoperative frozen section in the diagnosis of various categories of ovarian neoplasms. Methods Intraoperative frozen section diagnosis was retrospectively evaluated in 292 patients with suspected ovarian neoplasms who underwent surgery as primary line of therapy at our institution. This was compared with the final histopathology diagnosis on paraffin sections. Results In 292 patients frozen section report had a sensitivity of 100%, 65% and 96.67% for benign, borderline and malignant tumors, respectively. The corresponding specificities were 94.28%, 99.26%, and 99.42%, respectively. The overall accuracy of frozen section diagnosis was 96.2%. The majority of cases of disagreement were in the mucinous and borderline tumors. Conclusion Intraoperative frozen section has high accuracy in the diagnosis of suspected ovarian neoplasms. It is a valuable tool to guide the surgical management of these patients and should be routinely used in all major oncology centers.