Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) as a Diagnostic Tool for the Diagnosis of Cervical Lymphadenopathy

Abstract

Introduction: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is a simple, quick and inexpensive method that is used to sample superficial masses like cervical lymph node found in the neck and is usually performed in the outpatient clinic. Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of Fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosis of palpable Cervical Lymph node and to correlate the cytological findings with the final histological diagnosis. Methods: This study was carried out at sterling hospital Vadodara on 31 clinically diagnosed cases of cervical lymphadenopathy over a period of one and half years from January 2013 to June 2014. FNAC was carried out in all these patients. Biopsy, Immunohistochemistry and special stains were done in selected cases. Patients included in the present study were in the age group of 3 years to 82 years.
Results: 14/31 (45.16%) cases were of granulomatous lymphadenitis, 8/31 (25.81%) cases showed metastatic tumors, 4/31 (12.9%) reactive lymph nodes, 2/31 (6.45%) abscess, 2/31 (6.45%) Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and 1/31 (3.23%) benign cystic lesion. Sensitivity of study was 90% and specificity for malignancy was 100%.
Conclusion: The most frequent causes of cervical lymphadenopathy are tuberculosis, metastatic malignancies and reactive lymphadenitis. FNAC alone can help in establishing the diagnosis in large number of cases. In certain situation it can be enough for diagnosis in proper clinical setting to avoid surgical procedure like biopsy.