title: [Systematic or selective frozen sections during surgery for suspected malignant thyroid lesions? Results in 674 cases over a period of 6 years (author's transl)].
abstract: Results of a retrospective study of 674 frozen sections in thyroid surgery, demonstrated on over all reliability of 98.2%, when compared with final pathological findings, with 651 confirmation in 674 cases. False negatives of malignancy represented 1.6% of lesions thought to be benign, while false positives were obtained in 4.8% of lesions thought to be malignant on frozen sections. Prior to frozen sections, 221 patients had needle punctures and cytological smears studies of the thyroid lesion. When comparing the results after using the two methods, no false positive for malignancy, assessed by cytology, was found on frozen sections, which also corrected but two false negatives of malignancy given by the 177 smears affirmative of benignancy, but reduced the number of equivocal results of cytology from 36 to 1. Both pre-operative cytological examination by needle puncture and intra-operative frozen sections appear, therefore, to be very reliable methods for studying thyroid lesions. Frozen sections are complementary to cytological studies. These results suggest that, in surgical thyroid diseases, frozen sections, need perhaps not to be systematically conducted, but should be selective and reserved for cases in which pre-operative needle cytology affirms malignancy, or raises suspicion.
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
vernacular_title: Examen extemporané systématique ou sélectif dans la chirurgie des affections thyroïdiennes suspectes de malignité? Expérience de 674 examens en 6 ans.