Tumors of the salivary glands. Comparison of frozen-section diagnosis with final pathologic diagnosis.

Of the 256 cases of salivary gland tumors subjected to frozen-section diagnosis, the error rate in diagnosis for malignant disease was one of four cases, and in benign disease, it was one of ten cases. Six of the 52 malignant tumors were erroneously labeled as benign, while four of the 204 benign tumors were diagnosed as malignant neoplasms. The occurrence of concurrent benign and malignant disease, nonneoplastic alterations of salivary gland tissue, and sampling errors militated against total reliance on frozen-section diagnosis in the management of salivary gland neoplasms.