Intraoperative evaluation of lumpectomy margins by imprint cytology with histologic correlation: a community hospital experience.

BACKGROUND: Several well-controlled studies have demonstrated significantly increased local recurrence rates in patients with low-stage breast carcinoma treated with breast conservation therapy in whom focally positive margins were not reexcised. Imprint cytology is a rapid technique for evaluating surgical margins intraoperatively, thus allowing reexcisions to be performed during the initial surgery. The large majority of studies on the use of intraoperative imprint cytologic examination of breast conservation therapy margins have been performed at university-based academic centers.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of intraoperative imprint cytologic evaluation of breast conservation therapy margins in a community hospital setting.
METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the intraoperative imprint cytology margins of 141 lumpectomy specimens that had been obtained from 137 patients between May 1997 and May 2001.
RESULTS: We evaluated 758 separate margins. On a patient basis, the sensitivity was 80%, the specificity was 85%, the positive predictive value was 40%, the negative predictive value was 97%, and the overall accuracy was 85%. There were no cytologically unsatisfactory margins.
CONCLUSION: Imprint cytology is an accurate, simple, rapid, and cost-effective method for determining the margin status of breast conservation therapy specimens intraoperatively in the community hospital setting. This method allows a survey of the entire surface area of the lumpectomy specimen, which is not practical using frozen section evaluation.