Comparison of the Accuracy of Frozen Section in Morning and Afternoon Working Hours for Axillary Lymph Node Biopsy

Background: The role of diagnostic pathology has become more prominent.This study aimed to compare the accuracy of frozen section compared withpermanent section in the morning and afternoon working hours.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, ۹۹ patients with stage ۱ and ۲ breastcancer who underwent sentinel and non-sentinel lymph node biopsy between ۲۰۱۳and ۲۰۱۵ were included.The results of frozen section and permanent pathology of the lymph nodes werecompared with one another. The time of pathologic evaluation including morning(before ۲pm) and afternoon (after ۲ pm) was also considered in the comparativeanalysis.Results: The mean age of the patients was ۴۸.۵۸±۸.۹۶ years. The accuracy offrozen section biopsy of the sentinel lymph node was ۷۹.۸۰%, ۸۱.۰%, and ۷۸.۰%in general, before ۲ pm, and after ۲ pm, respectively. The accuracy of frozensection biopsy of the non-sentinel lymph node was ۶۲.۳۲%, ۶۵.۱%, and ۵۷.۷% ingeneral, before ۲ pm, and after ۲ pm, respectively.Conclusions: There was no difference in the accuracy of the frozen sectionbiopsy before and after ۲pmfor the sentinel or non-sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Keywords:

Breast cancer , frozen section , working hour , lymph node dissection