Related Experiment Videos
Fine needle aspiration cytology of cervical lymphadenopathy with special reference to tuberculosis
A Dasgupta1, R N Ghosh, A K Poddar
1Department of Pathology and Microbiology, RG Kar Medical College, Calcutta.
Insights
Fine needle aspiration cytology is a safe, quick, and accurate method for diagnosing cervical lymphadenopathy, including tuberculous lymphadenitis and metastatic carcinoma.
Area of Science:
- Pathology
- Oncology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Cervical lymphadenopathy is a common clinical presentation requiring accurate diagnosis.
- Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a minimally invasive procedure for evaluating lymph node abnormalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FNAC in cases of cervical lymphadenopathy.
- To identify key cytological features for diagnosing tuberculous lymphadenitis and metastatic carcinoma.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study of 180 cases of cervical lymphadenopathy.
- Comparison of FNAC findings with histopathologic examination of excised lymph nodes.
Main Results:
- FNAC achieved 84.4% diagnostic accuracy for tuberculous lymphadenitis.
- Key features for tuberculous lymphadenitis included caseous necrosis (84.2%) and epithelioid cells (73.6%).
- Acid-fast bacilli were detected in 45.6% of tuberculous cases.
- FNAC demonstrated 89% diagnostic accuracy for metastatic carcinoma.
Conclusions:
- FNAC is a safe, rapid, and cost-effective diagnostic tool for cervical lymphadenopathy.
- FNAC provides high diagnostic accuracy for both infectious (tuberculous lymphadenitis) and malignant conditions (metastatic carcinoma).
Abstract:
One hundred eighty cases of cervical lymphadenopathy have been studied by fine needle aspiration cytological examination followed by histopathologic examination of the excised lymph nodes. The diagnostic accuracy was 84.4% for tuberculous lymphadenitis by fine needle aspiration cytological examination. Observation of caseous necrosis (84.2%) and epithelioid cells (73.6%) were the most characteristic diagnostic features in the aspirated smears. Acid-fast bacilli were observed in 45.6% cases. Metastatic carcinoma also yielded a high diagnostic accuracy ie, 89%. Fine needle aspiration cytology has been found to be safe, quick, inexpensive with high diagnostic accuracy in cervical lymphadenopathy.