The accuracy of clinical examination versus frozen section in the diagnosis of parotid masses

Purpose: This study evaluated the role of clinical examination and frozen sections in the diagnosis and management of parotid masses. Patients and Methods: One hundred seventy patients underwent parotidectomy. Of these, the data on 65 were analyzed, with emphasis on accuracy of the clinical diagnosis and frozen section results compared with the final histologic diagnosis. Results: The results showed that the sensitivity of frozen sections for malignancy was 93.3%, and the specificity for a benign tumor was 95.74%, with a 4.2% false-negative rate and a 6.7% false-positive rate. Of the 65 patients, 58 patients had an explicit clinical diagnosis; 88.4% were correctly identified as benign tumors, and 78.6% were correctly diagnosed as malignancies. The false-positive and false-negative rates were 21.4% and 7.0%, respectively. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that clinical examination can provide information that is not very reliable, and the surgical plan should be based on intraoperative frozen sections rather than the history and clinical features.