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Introduction: Intraoperative consultation by frozen section technique is an invaluable tool for immediate diagnosis. Its accuracy and limitations vary with different anatomical sites. Various studies comparing diagnostic accuracy are reported, however morphological quality of frozen section and its limitations have not been widely discussed.Aim: Qualitative morphological comparison between frozen section and routine formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections in different tissues, determine the diagnostic accuracy and study limitations of frozen section. Materials and Methods:67 tissue specimens from 52 cases were studied over a period of 2 years. Diagnostic accuracy of frozen section and its morphological quality and reliability in comparison to histopathology was evaluated by 2 pathologists in a blinded fashion for the following parameters: cellular outline, nuclear and cytoplasmic features, staining pattern and overall morphology. The turnaround time and limitations in section preparation and problems encountered were assessed.Results: Diagnostic accuracy of frozen section was 96.2%. Statistical analysis showed that nuclear details, cellular outline and overall morphological quality of frozen section was slightly inferior to that of routine histopathology section, however, staining and cytoplasmic details were comparable. Most common limitation was freezing artifact. The average turnaround time was within 20 minutes in 76.9% cases. Conclusion:Frozen section is a reliable and accurate intra-operative consultation modality, but one needs to be aware of its indications and limitations. Avoiding technical errors in sectioning and staining, combination of knowledge about clinical presentation and experience in interpretation of morphological details can provide rapid diagnosis and subsequent patient management. Intraoperative consultation guides immediate surgical management to establish nature and type of lesion, confirm presence of malignancy, status of surgical margins and ensuring sufficient sampling of lesional tissue. The indications and limitations of frozen section diagnosis vary in different organs. Diagnostic discrepancies between frozen and permanent section are commonly observed in tissue from skin, breast, uterine cervix and thyroid [3][4][5][6]. INTRODUCTIONErrors can be divided into errors of interpretation and errors of sampling. These include the initial selection of tissue by the surgeon, the sampling of the tissue by the pathologist, the technical expertise required to prepare the slides, errors in interpretation and delivery of the result back to the surgeons [5,7]. Diagnosis should be deferred when situation warrants [8]. Many published studies have confirmed the overall diagnostic accuracy of frozen section examination and serves as an integral part of quality assurance [9].Studies comparing the morphological quality of frozen section and formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections have not been widely reported in literature. Also, as frozen section is subject to various pitfalls, ...

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Cytological study of uids is an inexpensive, simple procedure and has signicant utility in diagnosing neoplastic and non neoplastic lesions. The cytological examination of uids in combination with physical examination helps identify aetiologic agents, follow the natural process of the disease and monitor the response to the treatment.Aim: To determine the diagnostic utility of serosal uid cytology and analyse the incidence of neoplastic and non neoplastic lesions using serous uid cytology.Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study comprising 311 cases conducted in a tertiary care hospital.Purposive sampling was used to recruit the participants. All the patients with pleural effusions, ascites or in whom Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF), pericardial and synovial uids examination was indicated were included. The provisional diagnosis was obtained from case sheets, including relevant clinical information. Smears were prepared from freshly tapped specimens without adding anticoagulants and were processed by routine, conventional smear technique. The data were analysed using the SPSS version 22.0 for Windows. Numerical variables were reported as frequency and percentage. The chi-square test was used wherever necessary, and the p-value less than 0.05 were considered signicant.Results: The peritoneal uid was the most common uid collected in the present study, followed by pleural uid and CSF. The malignancy rate in the present study was 19 (10.4%) of peritoneal uid, 6 (5.9%) for pleural uid, and 2 (4.1%) for CSF. Conclusion: Adenocarcinoma was the most common malignancy found in this study, which was in concordance with the research conducted earlier, where gold standard investigations conrmed the ndings. In the peritoneal uid, most of the patients had cirrhosis and tuberculosis. In pleural uid and cerebrospinal uid, most of them had tuberculosis and chronic inammatory conditions, respectively. Previous researchers conrmed similar ndings in their studies. It is seen that malignant and benign conditions like tuberculosis can be diagnosed well with effusion cytology.