Touch imprint cytology: a rapid diagnostic tool for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Techniques for intraoperative pathologic examination of oral squamous cell carcinoma are rare in the literature. We evaluated the advantages and limitations of touch imprint cytology for intraoperative diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. We used 30 incisional biopsies of clinically diagnosed oral squamous cell carcinoma and compared touch imprint cytology to histopathological sections. Touch imprint cytology showed 24 specimens positive for malignancy, two suspicious for malignancy and four inadequate specimens. The accuracy of the test was 93.2%. Touch imprint cytology is an accurate, simple, rapid and cost-effective method that aids diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma during operation, but it does not replace incisional biopsy.