[Micrographically controlled surgery. Goals and reality]

Micrographic control of surgical margins reduces the risk of recurrence following excision of malignant neoplasms and allows for limited re-excisions of incompletely excised tumors. Several methods for checking surgical margins have been proposed. Principally, transverse sections through the entire specimen must be distinguished from longitudinal sections along all lateral margins. Transverse sections do not demonstrate the entire outer surface of the specimen. This may lead to false-negative results with subsequent recurrences. Longitudinal sections along lateral margins distort the architecture of the neoplasm and may make the diagnosis more difficult. Moreover, extensions of the neoplasm that come very close to lateral margins may be included in those sections, the consequence being false-positive results leading to unnecessary re-excisions. Regardless of the method employed, extensions of the neoplasm are not always recognizable, and, therefore, recurrences cannot be excluded.