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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Assessment of Ovarian Cancer Spheroid Attachment and Invasion of Mesothelial Cells in Real Time
Published on: May 20, 2014
Intraoperative assessment of epithelial and non-epithelial ovarian tumors: a 7-year review
K Pavlakis1, I Messini, T Vrekoussis
1Department of Pathology, University of Athens, Greece. epavlaki@med.uoa.gr
Objective:
To determine the accuracy of frozen section diagnosis of ovarian tumors and to discuss discrepant diagnostic cases.
Methods:
932 ovarian tumors were submitted for frozen section examination. Cases with a significant diagnostic discrepancy between the intraoperative and the final histological diagnosis were reviewed.
Results:
The sensitivity of frozen section diagnosis for benign, borderline and malignant epithelial tumors was 98.82%, 98.97% and 87.66% and the specificity 98.01%, 97.06% and 100%, respectively. There were 27 cases with diagnostic discrepancy. All non teratomatous sex cord/stromal and germ cell tumors were correctly diagnosed while a diagnostic discrepancy was observed in teratomatous tumors.
Conclusion:
Frozen section diagnosis is a reliable method for the surgical management of an ovarian mass. Nevertheless, care should be taken for large tumors measuring > 20 cm in diameter, particularly when the intraoperative diagnosis reveals an epithelial borderline tumor or a teratomatous tumor with an extensive neural component.
