We prospectively investigate the accuracy of frozen sections for diagnosing visceral pleural invasion (VPI) by autofluorescence and evaluated its usefulness in sublobar resection.
We included patients with lung adenocarcinoma 2 cm or less to evaluate the diagnostic performance of autofluorescence for VPI in frozen sections via a fluorescence microscope. Furthermore, the impact of VPI on patients treated with sublobar resection was assessed in another cohort.
A total of 112 patients were enrolled. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of autofluorescence for VPI diagnosis was 95.5%, 86.8%, and 100%, respectively. Sublobar resection was an independent risk factor for recurrence in patients with lung adenocarcinomas 2 cm or less with VPI positivity (hazard ratio, 3.30; P = .023), whereas it was not in those with VPI negativity.
Using autofluorescence in frozen sections appears to be an accurate method for diagnosing VPI, which is helpful for surgical decision making.