Accurate intraoperative margin assessment is essential for ensuring complete tumor excision in breast-conserving surgery. Given the clinical importance of achieving clear margins, intraoperative margin assessment is considered a fundamental strategy to minimize the need for reoperation. Frozen section analysis is the gold standard microscopic method for rapid intraoperative margin evaluation. However, its reliability is compromised in adipose-rich or fragmented breast tissue, where sectioning artefacts and sampling variability may distort the architecture and hinder both intraoperative and subsequent histopathological evaluations. These factors, coupled with interpretative complexity and time constraints, may lead to false-negative results, ultimately limiting the diagnostic reliability of this method in routine clinical settings. These challenges have resulted in reoperation rates exceeding 20% in international breast-conserving surgery series, highlighting the clinical need for improved intraoperative margin assessment strategies. In this context, real-time digital pathology tools have attracted growing interest as potential solutions.
The novel intraoperative margin assessment pathway offers the following advantages:
The VivaScope® 2500 enables rapid, high-resolution imaging of fresh breast tissue, facilitating real-time intraoperative margin evaluation with excellent diagnostic concordance and workflow efficiency. Its integration into surgical practice could reduce re-excisions, enhance oncological safety, and improve patient outcomes in breast-conserving surgeries.