ABSTRACT
Thorough intraoperative margin assessment is valuable when partial breast reconstruction is undertaken as an immediate procedure. The pathologist cannot assess the entire surface of a wide local excision specimen with frozen section examination; correlation with intraoperative radiological examination allows targeting of the area(s) of greatest concern in order to provide a sufficiently rapid result which is of value to the surgeon. The former incorporates selection of areas of concern and a process of “pressing” these onto glass microscope slides, immediately fixing the sample and staining with subsequent light microscopic assessment of the cytological preparations produced. Diathermy is damaging to epithelial cells and may cause potential problems especially with assessment of intraductal epithelial proliferations. Narrow margins between the breast tumor and edges of the surgical specimen are increasingly being accepted by multidisciplinary teams as sufficiently adequate for margin clearance.
