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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Horizontal Whole Mount: A Novel Processing and Imaging Protocol for Thick, Three-dimensional Tissue Cross-sections of Skin
Published on: August 2, 2017
Frozen section of skin specimens
Megan J Smith-Zagone1, Mary R Schwartz
1Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Context:
Skin cancers are the most common malignancies in this country. Treatment of these tumors often involves assessment of margins, which may be performed by frozen section.
Objective:
This article discusses indications for frozen section, various approaches to gross examination of specimens, Mohs micrographic surgery, diagnostic pitfalls, methods to improve diagnostic accuracy, and special techniques.
Data Sources:
The authors' extensive experience and review of the published literature.
Conclusions:
Frozen sections play a vital role in the evaluation of margins of basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. The role of frozen sections in evaluation of soft tissue tumors is controversial. With rare exception, they have no role in the evaluation of melanocytic tumors.
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The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...
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