Intraoperative Frozen Cytology of Central Nervous System Neoplasms: An Ancillary Tool for Frozen Diagnosis
- Author:
Myunghee KANG
1
;
Dong Hae CHUNG
;
Na Rae KIM
;
Hyun Yee CHO
;
Seung Yeon HA
;
Sangho LEE
;
Jungsuk AN
;
Jae Yeon SEOK
;
Gie Taek YIE
;
Chan Jong YOO
;
Sang Gu LEE
;
Eun Young KIM
;
Woo Kyung KIM
;
Seong SON
;
Sun Jin SYM
;
Dong Bok SHIN
;
Hee Young HWANG
;
Eung Yeop KIM
;
Kyu Chan LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Crush cytology; Central nervous system; Neoplasm; Frozen sections
- MeSH: Brain Neoplasms; Central Nervous System Neoplasms; Central Nervous System; Cytogenetics; Diagnosis; Frozen Sections; Humans; Meningeal Neoplasms; Methods; Neurilemmoma; Pituitary Neoplasms; Retrospective Studies
- From:Journal of Pathology and Translational Medicine 2019;53(2):104-111
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Pathologic diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms is made by comparing light microscopic, immunohistochemical, and molecular cytogenetic findings with clinicoradiologic observations. Intraoperative frozen cytology smears can improve the diagnostic accuracy for CNS neoplasms. Here, we evaluate the diagnostic value of cytology in frozen diagnoses of CNS neoplasms. METHODS: Cases were selected from patients undergoing both frozen cytology and frozen sections. Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated. RESULTS: Four hundred and fifty-four cases were included in this retrospective single-center review study covering a span of 10 years. Five discrepant cases (1.1%) were found after excluding 53 deferred cases (31 cases of tentative diagnosis, 22 cases of inadequate frozen sampling). A total of 346 cases of complete concordance and 50 cases of partial concordance were classified as not discordant cases in the present study. Diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative frozen diagnosis was 87.2%, and the accuracy was 98.8% after excluding deferred cases. Discrepancies between frozen and permanent diagnoses (n = 5, 1.1%) were found in cases of nonrepresentative sampling (n = 2) and misinterpretation (n = 3). High concordance was observed more frequently in meningeal tumors (97/98, 99%), metastatic brain tumors (51/52, 98.1%), pituitary adenomas (86/89, 96.6%), schwannomas (45/47, 95.8%), high-grade astrocytic tumors (47/58, 81%), low grade astrocytic tumors (10/13, 76.9%), non-neoplastic lesions (23/36, 63.9%), in decreasing frequency. CONCLUSIONS: Using intraoperative cytology and frozen sections of CNS tumors is a highly accurate diagnostic ancillary method, providing subtyping of CNS neoplasms, especially in frequently encountered entities.
