Purpose:

Odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) is a benign intraosseous lesion of the jaws. Management of these lesions includes enucleation and surface treatment, which ensures less recurrence. Some authors have proposed the use of fast intraoperatory biopsy (or frozen section biopsy (FSB)) as a tool to guide the management of this type of lesions in just one procedure thus reducing treatment period and associated costs. The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation between findings of intraoperative FSB and those of deferred histopathological reports of cystic jaw lesions with findings suggesting OKC.

Methods:

A descriptive retrospective study was performed at the Surgical Oncology and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of all patients undergoing enucleation of jaw lesions with FSB performed due to suspicion of OKC in the period July 2011 to December 2018.

Results:

A total of 22 patients required FSB due to suspicion of OKC. The final histopathological diagnosis, after enucleation of the cystic lesion, was OKC in 11 cases (50 %), 10 cases of which (90.9 %) were classified as OKC according to the FSB. When compared to histological findings of a postoperative biopsy analysis, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the histopathological diagnosis using FSB were 91 %, 100 %, 100 %, and 92 % respectively.

Conclusion:

It is possible to suggest that there is a considerable correlation between FSB findings and the final histopathological study of OKC. FSB can be a useful complement in treating cystic jaw lesions with clinical signs suggesting OKC in just one surgery.

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