Place and results of frozen section analysis in the management of malignant and borderline ovarian tumors

The management of ovarian tumors discovered during laparoscopy depends equally on the surgeon and the pathologist. Thus, the surgeon will undergo a more or less radical surgery depending on frozen section analysis (FSA), which depends mainly on the pathologist's skills, the histopathologic type and the volume and the localization of the tumor. The accuracy of FSA is higher in ovarian cancer than in borderline tumor. In patients treated initially with a laparoscopic approach, if the FSA demonstrates the presence of an invasive carcinoma, a conversion to laparotomy should be performed in order to complete the surgical staging. If the FSA demonstrates the presence of a borderline tumor, an exclusive laparoscopic approach could be discussed. © 2004 Elsevier SAS. Tous droits réservés.