Radical prostatectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy: observations on the accuracy of staging with lymph node frozen sections.

The accuracy of intraoperative frozen section examination of excised lymph nodes was analyzed in 40 consecutive patients with clinical stages A2, B1 and B2 adenocarcinoma of the prostate who underwent pelvic lymphadenectomy immediately before anticipated radical prostatectomy. Lymph node metastases were observed with frozen sections and verified with paraffin sections in 5 cases (13 per cent). Among the 35 patients with negative frozen sections lymph node metastases were found with paraffin sections in 3 cases (9 per cent). Despite the potential for false negative findings we believe that intraoperative frozen sections constitute a practical method of pathologic staging prior to radical prostatectomy.