Reliability of Imprint Cytology and Frozen Sections for Demonstrating Free Surgical Margins in the Periocular Basal Cell Carcinoma

Purpose: The present was conducted to measure the sensitivity and specificity of imprint cytology (IC) and frozen section (FS) in the evaluation of margin involvement of periocular basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on ۳۶ patients who underwent an excisional biopsy of periocular BCC. The surgical margins of each excised mass were tested for involvement by tumoral cells using three pathologic methods as follows. Samples were obtained for IC from the marginal territory of the tumor. Then, FS samples were obtained and the tissue was prepared for permanent histopathologic evaluation, the results of which were considered as the gold standard to compare two other methods. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of each method were calculated accordingly. Results: Thirty-six patients (۲۰ males and ۱۶ females) with the mean age of ۷۳±۱۲ years who had periocular BCC were enrolled and a total of ۱۲۱ samples were obtained from the margins. The sensitivity and specificity of FS were ۹۴.۳ and ۹۷.۷% and of IC were ۵۱.۴ and ۸۴.۹%, respectively. Also, Positive and negative predictive value for FS were ۹۴.۳ and ۹۷.۷ and for IC were ۵۸.۱ and ۸۱.۱%, respectively. Conclusions: Although less expensive and more feasible than FS, IC lacks diagnostic accuracy for demarcating the extent of resection of eyelid BCC.

Keywords:

Basal cell carcinoma , Eyelid tumors , Frozen section , Imprint cytology