FNAC: A Simple & Cost-Effective Diagnostic Tool for Benign & Malignant Pathologies Associated with Cervical Lymphadenopathy

• Published in: Proceedings (Shaikh Zayed Hospital) Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 25 - 29
• Main Authors: Sohail Anwar, Amna Rehman, Asifa Karamat, Huma Batool, Ali Afzal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex, Lahore 08.11.2021
• Subjects: fine needle aspiration cytology, cervical lymphadenopathy
• ISSN: 1815-4905; 2518-203X
• DOI: 10.47489/PSZMC-815354-25-29

Introduction: Cervical lymphadenopathy is very common as the presenting complaint in our outpatient departments. Its etiology may either be benign or malignant. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a comparatively cheap, easy to perform minimally invasive test. It has become the go to test to determine the cause of lymphadenopathy Aims & Objectives: To determine whether FNAC is a cost-effective diagnostic tool in evaluation of various benign and malignant Pathologies associated with cervical lymphadenopathy. Place and duration of study: It is a retrospective study conducted at Gulab Devi Hospital from April 2019 to April 2021. Material & Methods: The cyto-morphologic features seen in the aspirates were critically analyzed and correlated with their etiology. SPSS version 24.0 was analyzed for data analysis. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among the 100 patients 56 were females and 44 were males with a female to male ratio of 1.3:1. The age range of the patients was from 3 to 75 years. 37% were reactive lymphadenitis, 32% were tuberculosis, 12% were suppurative, 11% were lymphoproliferative disorders, 8% cases were metastatic neoplasm. Conclusion: FNAC is a reliable and cost effective to diagnose the etiologies of cervical lymphadenopathy.