Squash preparation and frozen section in intraoperative diagnosis of central nervous system tumors.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of squash preparation (smears) and frozen section (FS) in the rapid intraoperative diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) tumors.


METHODS
One hundred eighty-three CNS tumors were examined over a period of 18 months (January 1995-June 1996). All these were open biopsies, and the smear interpretation was compared with FS findings and paraffin section diagnosis.


RESULTS
In 183 tumors, squash preparation was satisfactory in 156 cases (85.2%), and the diagnostic accuracy was 89.7% (140/156). The accuracy of FS diagnosis was 90.4% (141/156).


CONCLUSIONS
The squash smear preparation is a fairly accurate and reliable tool in the rapid intraoperative diagnosis of CNS tumors. The accuracy of this technique is nearly as good as that of FS (P value = .9877). With the advent of stereotactic biopsies, the pathologist may have to depend entirely upon cytologic features for a definitive diagnosis.
Department of Histopathology, Bombay Hospital and Medical Research Centre, India.
A B
AB
Shah
G A
GA
Muzumdar
A R
AR
Chitale
S N
SN
Bhagwati
D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005629:Frozen Sections; D016591:Histocytological Preparation Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D010212:Papilloma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests