lipids. They can also be used to detect some antigens masked by formalin. The cryostat is available in a small portable device weighing less than , to a large stationary device or more. The entire histologic laboratory can be carried in one portable box, making frozen section histology a possible tool in primitive medicine. Accuracy of diagnosis A Cochrane systematic review published in 2016 analysed all studies that reported diagnostic accuracy of frozen sections in women undergoing surgery for suspicious tumor in ovary. The review concluded that for tumors that were clearly either benign or malignant on frozen section, the accuracy of the diagnosis was good, as confirmed later by regular biopsy. On the contrary, where the frozen section diagnosis was a borderline tumor, neither confirming not ruling out cancer, the diagnosis was less accurate. The review suggests that in such situations of uncertainty, surgeons may choose to perform additional surgery in this group of women at the time of their initial surgery in order to reduce the need for a second operation, as on an average one out of five of these women were subsequently found to have cancer. Ultracryotome An ultracryotome, which is a very similar device to crytome, can cut ultrathin blocks of tissue, and that tissue can be observed by transmission electron microscopy. The cutting thickness of ultracryotome is about dozens of nanometers. The ultrastructural properties can be studied without embedding of the tissue, and so the molecular conservation is better. See also Frozen tissue array References External links JAMA patient page on frozen section procedure Anatomical pathology Surgical oncology Biopsy