Accuracy of frozen section examination of testicular tumors.

Benign testicular masses are recognized with increasing frequency and testis-sparing surgery, based on benign frozen section diagnosis, is practiced more often. However, there is a paucity of information in the medical literature regarding the accuracy of frozen section diagnoses of testicular tumors, and misdiagnoses could have dire consequences. We reviewed thirty frozen section examinations that were performed between 1962 and 1991, a period in which five hundred inguinal orchiectomies were performed. The entire testicle was available for histologic evaluation in 26 cases. Frozen sections correctly identified all of twenty-four malignant and two benign testicular masses. This study demonstrates that frozen section examinations can accurately diagnose testicular cancer.