European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a simple, quick and inexpensive method that is used to sample palpable lymph nodes. Objective: To study the role of FNAC in the evaluation of lymphadenopathies. To categorize various lymph node lesions into neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions. To study the various cytomorphological patterns in correlation with histopathology of various lymph node lesions. To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC using histopathology as gold standard. Material and Methods: All patients referred to the Department of Pathology, Dr VRK Womens Medical College and Research centre. RR District, Telangana. for FNAC of palpable lymph node were included in our study. FNAC was done and the standard method for the procedure adopted. All the slides were reviewed and their diagnosis was made. FNAC diagnosis was compared with histopathology in cases which underwent surgical excision and thus it's diagnostic accuracy determined. This was two years prospective study from Jan-2015 to Dec-2016. Results: A total of 150 patients were included in our study, reported to various clinical departments with history of swelling. Lymph node biopsy was done in 55 cases. Statistical analysis was done in 55 cases, where FNAC diagnosis was correlated well with histopathological diagnosis. Maximum number of cases were in the age group of 21-40 years. Our study showed female preponderance of cases. Cervical group of nodes were most commonly involved. Benign lymphadenopathies were diagnosed in 72.67% of cases. Maximum number of cases being granulomatous lymphadenitis (50.46%). Metastatic deposit was diagnosed in 23.33% of cases. Most common subtype being adenocarcinoma (54.3%). Lymphoma were diagnosed in 06 cases (4%). The overall correlation between FNAC and histopathology was 98% (54 out of 55). Conclusion: FNAC is an accurate, sensitive, specific and cost-effective procedure in the diagnosis of lymphadenopathies