Intraoperative imprint cytology and surgical decision

الملخص EN

A prospective study was conducted on 60 specimens; 33 breast lumps and 27 lymph nodes, to assess the value of intraoperative imprint cytology as an aid in surgical decision especially in the absence of the facility of frozen section examination.

Imprint cytological examinations were done intraoperatively by a single pathologist.

The results were ready after a period of 15-25 minutes.

In all 60 specimens, 50 (83 %) were correctly diagnosed, 8 were diagnosed as suspicious of malignancy and 2 were misdiagnosed.

The sensitivity was 97 %, the specificity was 94.4 % and the accuracy rate was 96.1 %.

We concluded that imprint cytology is a very simple technique and it remains a useful and cost effective tool, can aid in the surgical decision.