Spectrum of Cytopathological Findings in Cases of Lymphadenopathy-A 3 Years Study

Lymphadenopathy is one of the commonest conditions encountered in clinical practice. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology( FNAC) has proven to be an easy, reliable and cost effective diagnostic tool for lymphadenopathies. The appropriate use of FNAC may obviate the need for an open biopsy. The purpose of the present study is to see the spectrum of cytopathological findings of FNAC of lymph node over a period of 3 years and to find out its correlation with the histopathological diagnosis. A retrospective study was conducted on cases of lymphadenopathy whose FNAC and biopsy were done during a 3 year period. FNAC was done in 1542 cases and correlation between cytopathological and histopathological examination results could be done in 79 cases. Out of 1542 cases 51% were male and 49% were female. The commonest anatomical site of lymphadenopathy was cervical followed by supraclavicular and axillary. The peak age group ranged between 11-20 years. Out of 1542 FNAC cases, 693 cases (44.9%) were diagnosed as granulomatous lymphadenitis, 639 cases(41.4%) as chronic non-specific lymphadenitis, 62 cases(4.02%) as lymphoproliferative disorder, 119 cases(7.72%) were suggestive of metastatic deposits in lymph node. Histopathological correlation showed diagnostic discordance between cytopathological and histopathological results in 3 out of 79 cases. Therefore, FNAC is safe procedure with high degree of concordance with histopathological diagnosis and can be used independently in choosing initial treatment option, but biopsy is confirmatory in lymphoproliferative disorders.