During a 1-year period 4785 intraoperative consultations were performed. The pathology reports were retrospectively reviewed to determine the accuracy of frozen section diagnosis in various tissue types. Skin for evaluation of section margins and axillary sentinel lymph nodes for evaluation of metastatic disease were most frequently sent for frozen section diagnosis. The number of discordant cases were 182, 178 were false negative and four were false positive. When frozen section diagnoses were compared with permanent section diagnoses, the overall diagnostic concordance was 95.1%. The number of deferred specimens was 57. The accuracy of frozen section diagnosis varied between tissue types, and axillary sentinel lymph nodes accounted for the greatest number of discordances. In conclusion, the frozen section diagnosis is a reliable method with varying concordance and deferral rates between tissue types. We suggest regular monitoring of the performance in frozen section diagnosis.

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BackgroundSyphilis has been referred to as “the great imitator” due to its ability to imitate other diseases. Untreated syphilis becomes a systemic infection that can involve almost every organ systems. Treponema pallidum has a high affinity for bone tissue, but osteitis has mainly been described in late stages of the disease. Vertebral involvement is rare, and this is to our knowledge the first case describing syphilitic spondylitis in early acquired syphilis.Case presentationWe here describe destructive osteitis in the vertebral column as the initial manifestation of early acquired syphilis in a 24-year-old caucasian homosexual male with HIV infection. The diagnosis was reached by universal bacterial PCR and DNA sequencing of the DNA product. It was confirmed by PCR specific for Treponema pallidum, immunohistochemistry and detection of increasing antibody titer.ConclusionsAs syphilis has re-emerged in Western countries and remains a worldwide common disease it is important to have in mind as a causative agent of skeletal symptoms, especially among HIV-infected individuals or men who have sex with men (MSM).

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