Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry: Revolutionizing Surgical Diagnostics

In the quick world of surgical testing, accuracy and speed are vital. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry (IRFI) is an exciting method. It mixes frozen sample analysis with fast immunohistochemistry (IHC). This approach gives pathology results in 30 minutes during surgery. It helps surgeons decide how much to operate. IRFI tackles the problems of usual frozen hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. It boosts testing accuracy and improves patient results. This blog explains what Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry is. It also covers its benefits and how it changes surgical testing.

What is Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry?

Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry combines frozen sample preparation with quick IHC. During surgery, the operation’s scope may be unclear. A tissue sample goes to the pathology lab. The patient waits in the operating room for about 30 minutes. Pathologists study the sample. The results guide instant surgical choices, like how much tumor to remove.

Normal IHC takes 3-4 hours. This is too slow for surgery. IRFI speeds up the process. It can give results in just 10 minutes. This speed comes from improved methods, special antibodies, and advanced staining tools. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry is a major step forward in surgical pathology.

Challenges of Traditional Frozen HE Staining

Frozen HE staining is common for surgical testing. But it has issues. Why use Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry when HE exists? The answer is HE’s weaknesses:

• Ice Crystal Harm: Freezing fresh tissue creates ice crystals. These distort cells and tissue shapes. Cells may swell, stretch, or form bubbles. This makes testing harder.

• Tissue Shrinking: Frozen samples often shrink too much. Cell cores may also change shape. This complicates results for pathologists.

Kidney tissue (left section without ice crystals, right section with numerous extracellular ice crystals)

• Unusual Cases: In cases with odd shapes or tiny metastases, HE alone can cause wrong or missed diagnoses.

A 2019 Chinese pathology report showed a 98.7% match rate between surgical frozen testing and final paraffin testing in top public hospitals. This is good, but there’s room to improve. Also, use rates differ. Ministry hospitals use it 100% (8,408 cases). Tertiary public hospitals use it 92.7% (2,141 cases). Private hospitals use it 72.8% (286 cases). Secondary public hospitals use it 58.7% (194 cases). These gaps show a need for extra testing tools like Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry.

How Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry Solves These Challenges

Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry fixes HE staining’s problems. It offers a more exact and dependable testing method. Here’s how it helps:

Rapid Detection of Tumor Markers

IRFI quickly spots tumor-specific markers during surgery. This is great for finding tiny lesions, like micro-metastases or invasive spots. These are often missed by HE staining. By cutting false negatives, Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry ensures better diagnoses.

CK19 Thyroid Lymph Node Staining Results

CK (Pan-Cytokeratin) Breast Cancer Metastatic Lymph Node Staining Results

Improved Diagnostic Accuracy

Relying only on HE shapes raises error risks. IRFI works with HE by checking multiple markers in one sample. This lets pathologists confirm tumor types and traits. It leads to clear classifications.

Support for Surgical Decision-Making

IRFI gives key testing data. This informs surgical plans. For example, it can confirm cancer cells at cut edges. This prevents incomplete tumor removal. It reduces extra surgeries, eases patient stress, and lowers disputes.

Benefits of Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry in Practice

Using Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry changes surgical testing. It offers these benefits:

• Boosting Accuracy: Multi-marker tests reduce doubt, especially in tough cases.
• Saving Time: Results in 10-30 minutes fit surgical schedules. This avoids delays.
• Improving Results: Exact diagnoses cut the need for more surgeries. This lowers patient worry and health costs.
• Supporting Tailored Care: Marker insights guide custom surgical and treatment plans.

These advantages make IRFI a must-have for modern pathology labs. It helps deliver high-quality surgical testing.

Conclusion: The Future of Intraoperative Diagnostics

Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry is changing surgical pathology. It fixes the problems of usual frozen HE staining. Its ability to give quick, accurate, and marker-driven diagnoses helps surgeons make smart choices in real time. As more labs use it, IRFI will become standard in surgical testing. It reduces wrong diagnoses and improves patient results. It also advances tailored medicine. For pathology labs, adopting Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry is a move toward faster, smarter, and more reliable testing.

FAQs

Q1. What is Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry?

A1. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry is an advanced testing method. It’s used during surgery. It mixes frozen sample analysis with fast immunohistochemistry. This detects many markers in a tissue sample. Results come in 10-30 minutes.

Q2. How does Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry differ from traditional IHC?

A2. Normal IHC takes 3-4 hours. This is too long for surgery. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry uses improved methods. It gives results in as little as 10 minutes. This supports instant surgical choices.

Q3. Why is Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry better than HE staining?

A3. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry beats HE staining’s issues. These include ice crystal harm and missed tiny lesions. It uses marker-based insights. This improves testing accuracy and cuts false negatives.

Q4. What types of surgeries benefit from Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry?

A4. Surgeries needing real-time tumor edge checks benefit a lot. Examples include breast, lung, or brain cancer removals. Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry ensures exact diagnoses for tricky cases.

Q5. Is Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry widely available?

A5. Availability differs by hospital type and area. Top and ministry hospitals often use Intraoperative Rapid Frozen Immunohistochemistry. But its use is growing as its benefits become clear.