Accuracy of breast frozen section diagnosis in the community hospital setting: a detailed analysis of 628 cases.

The author presents a detailed analysis of 628 breast frozen sections performed at Columbia Hospital over a 35-month period. These 628 frozen sections came from a total of 574 females and 13 males (mean age 55.3 years and range 20.1 to 95.0 years). Frozen section diagnosis was deferred in 18 cases (2.8%) and diagnostic accuracy for presence or absence of malignant neoplasia was 99.2%; one false positive case (pathologist judgement error) and four false negative cases (two sampling errors and two pathologist judgement errors) were detected. Strict diagnostic accuracy for this series was 98.7%. Fifty-three of 223 positive frozen sections (23.8%) were immediately followed by completion mastectomy. The author discusses the philosophy of frozen section technique and concludes that breast frozen section analysis in a busy community hospital setting can meet and even exceed the accuracy level attained at large academic medical centers.