title: [Value of intraoperative frozen-section analysis in thyroid surgery].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the value of intraoperative frozen-section diagnosis in thyroid surgery and determine its limitations.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study examined the results of 1534 frozen sections of thyroid specimens analyzed over the 11-year period from 1995 through 2005 and their correlations with the final histological examination. Deferred responses were not taken into account for statistical calculations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our series, frozen-section diagnosis was concordant with subsequent histopathological examination in 92% of cases, discordant in 3%, and deferred in 5%. The global specificity of frozen section analysis for all histological subtypes was 99.8% and its sensitivity 67%. Its sensitivity for thyroid cancer was lower in follicular (42%) and papillary carcinoma (64%) than medullary (100%), anaplastic (100%), secondary (100%), mixed (100%), and insular carcinomas (86%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our series, as in the literature, most of the discordances between frozen-section and definitive diagnosis were associated with microfollicular lesions, which explain the low sensitivity of 67%. Our results demonstrate the reliability of intraoperative frozen-section analysis in thyroid surgery. Collaboration between pathologists, radiologists, and clinicians should be emphasized.
authors.affiliation: Service d'anatomie et de cytologie pathologiques, Hôpital La Rabta, 1007 Bab Saâdoun, Tunis-Tunisie.
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mekni
authors.forename: Faten
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Limaiem
authors.forename: Khedija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cherif
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chelly
authors.forename: Samia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sahtout
authors.forename: Khedija
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bellil
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellil
authors.forename: Nidhameddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kchir
authors.forename: Moncef
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zitouna
authors.forename: Slim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haouet
mesh_terms: D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy