Touch Imprint Cytology; A reliable and Practical Subsititute to Frozen Sections

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of intra-operative touch imprint cytology (TIC) in the diagnosis of lump in breast. Methods: Descriptive study, conducted at Department of Pathology. Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro, from 151 January 2013 to 31' July 2013. A total of 100 cases of Breast lump surgeries were included, tissue imprints were collected during surgical procedures. Intra-operative TIC results were compared with histo-pathological diagnosis. Results: TIC has 97% sensitivity, 100°0 specificity. Out of 100 cases, TIC showed 97 true positive cases (97%) and only 03 false negative cases (03%) and 0 false positives. Positive predictive value was 100%, while negative predictive value was 95.38%. Conclusion: Intra-operative TIC is a simple, quick and cost effective diagnostic test with better accuracy that can be used as an alternative to frozen section in diagnostic settings and margin assessments. Key Words: Intra-Operative, Touch Imprint Cytology, Breast Lump