The role and limitations of frozen section diagnosis of a palpable mass in the breast.

Frozen section diagnosis of a palpable mass in the breast provides a useful rapid histologic finding for the surgeon to make intraoperative decisions. A deferred diagnosis during frozen section, in a small number of instances, is necessary because of real histologic problems and too small lesions or too small sample size. The surgeon and the pathologist must each accept certain responsibilities if the patient is to receive the maximum benefit from the frozen section method. The surgeon should also realize that it is the pathologist who must decide if a given specimen can be frozen and interpreted satisfactorily or if it would be wise to wait for the permanent paraffin section. In this article, we have summarized our experience with frozen section diagnosis of palpable masses of the breast with an efficiency rate of 95 per cent at community hospitals. In our series of 158 palpable masses of the breast, 5 per cent were deferred for permanent sections. Our results are comparable with those of other published reports.