CYTOMORPHOLOGY PATTERN ON FNAC AND AFB POSITIVITY IN CASES OF TUBERCULAR LYMPHADENITIS IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE OF CENTRAL INDIA

Background- One of the most typical diagnoses at OPDs in a developing nation like India is tuberculous lymphadenitis. Anti-tubercular therapy, however, cannot be started based solely on clinical suspicion. Along with culture, cytomorphology with acid fast staining is an effective tool for diagnosing these cases. The purpose of the study was to examine the usefulness, limits, and relationships between Ziehl-Neelsen staining in tuberculous lymphadenitis and various cytomorphological presentations using fine needle aspiration cytology. At a tertiary care facility, the study was Materials and Methods- carried out over the course of a year with a total of 146 cases. Patients who had lymphadenopathy that was clinically suspected were chosen. There were 36.3% cases of tuberculous Resultlymphadenitis out of which 66.04% cases were overall AFB positive. The most frequent cytological finding was epithelioid cell granulomas with lymphocytes, and cases with granulomas and necrosis had the highest levels of AFB positivity. Most patients first showed up in their third or fourth decade of life. Solitary lymphadenopathy, as opposed to matted lymph nodes as reported by others, was the most frequent presentation and the cervical area was the most frequently involved site. Fine needle as Conclusion- piration cytology is a highly sensitive method for diagnosing tuberculous lymphadenitis that is inexpensive, safe, and dependable. By adding acid fast staining and culture procedures to cytomorphology, the diagnostic index can be raised even higher. However, FNAC combined with methods like ELISA and PCR would improve the current landscape of diagnostic and therapeutic options.

Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccine induced lymphadenitis in infants and children masquerading with tubercular lymphadenitis at tertiary care hospital in North India

Background: Bacille calmette–guerin (BCG) vaccine containing live-attenuated Mycobacterium bovis was first used in humans to prevent tuberculosis in 1921. It is a safe vaccine. However, there can be minor adverse reactions such as pain, swelling, and redness at local injection site. The lesser known severe adverse reactions such as lymphadenitis, BCG osteitis, and disseminated BCG infection can be present after BCG vaccination. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to report the cases of BCG lymphadenitis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) after BCG vaccination in infants and children. Materials and Methods: All the infants and children (1 month–2 years) who presented with regional lymphadenopathy for FNAC after BCG vaccination were included in the study. Results: Total 21 patients with BCG lymphadenitis were recruited. In all the cases, the lymphadenitis involved ipsilateral left axillary lymph nodes. In three patient sites of involvement included the left supraclavicular lymph nodes and in other three patients left cervical lymph nodes along with left axillary lymph node. Sixteen patients had suppurative granulomatous lymphadenitis (SGLA) on FNAC and positive for Ziehl–Neelsen (ZN) staining for acid fast bacilli (AFB), while rest nine had non-suppurative granulomatous lymphadenitis (NSGLA) with negative for ZN staining for AFB. Conclusion: Early diagnosis of BCG lymphadenitis can help in proper management. Furthermore, it can prevent unnecessary anti tubercular treatment in children.

Paradoxical Reaction in Lymph Node Tuberculosis Presented as Shoulder Osteomyelitis

Paradoxical reactions (PRs) can be viewed as an abnormal immune response toward the anti-tubercular treatment (ATT). It is characterized by clinical worsening of the patient’s symptoms and signs following an initial improvement despite definitive treatment with ATT. Tubercular lymphadenitis is the most common extrapulmonary manifestation seen under PR. Other sites of involvement include the pleura, central nervous system, bones, and muscle. Although some paradoxical events may not require any intervention, studies have shown to have good outcomes using glucocorticoid therapy. This case reports a PR that involves tubercular lymphadenitis and osteomyelitis, which showed marked improvement of patient ailment following a 1-month course of oral steroid

Levels of vitamin D in tuberculosis and comparison of vitamin D level in severe variant of tuberculosis like tubercular meningitis, miliary tuberculosis, disseminated tuberculosis with non severe variant of tuberculosis like pulmonary tuberculosis, tubercular lymphadenitis etc in paediatric age group

Background: Tuberculosis is deadliest disease killing nearly 2 million people every year. Before the etiologic cause of TB was determined by Koch, cod liver oil and sunlight, both sources of vitamin D, were used in treatment of tuberculosis. After discovery of antibiotics, anti-infectious value of vitamin D was ignored until increasing cost of antibiotics and rise in resistance led to the need to search for alternative and antibiotic-independent therapeutic strategies. This study shed light on vitamin D, which is very safe and inexpensive by adding vitamin D to antibiotic treatment, immune system can be boosted to help body to clear TB, rather than relying on antibiotics.Methods: A prospective, observational, comparative study in which 62 TB patients were taken and vitamin D level were estimated.Results: The results of study show that out of total 62 patients, 31 (50.00%) had deficient(<20ng/ml) vitaminD,23(37.10%) had insufficient(20-30ng/ml) vitamin D, 8(12.90%) had sufficient (>30ng/ml) vitamin D level. Out of 62 patients, 10(62.13%) had severe variety of TB and 52(83.87%) had' nonsevere TB. Among the 52 patients, 24(46.2%) had deficient vitamin D, 20(38.5%) had insufficient vitamin D and 8(15.4%) had sufficient vitamin D. Among the 10 patients with severe TB, 7(70.00%) had deficient vitamin D, 3(30.00%) had insufficient vitamin D and none had sufficient vitamin D level.Conclusions: Majority of children with tuberculosis demonstrated low serum levels of vitamin D (deficient and insufficient levels) suggest that vitamin D deficiency is' risk factor of tuberculosis and very low levels of vitamin D were noted in severe variant of TB then non severe suggest that in severe form of tuberculosis vitamin D levels were less compared to nonsevere variant.

Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) Lymph Node - A Diagnostic Tool for Histopathological Diagnosis in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Background: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is used to evaluate the nature of the lesion. Lymphadenopathy in head and neck region have wide spectrum etiology vary from benign reactive hyperplasia to tubercular granulomatous lesion to malignancy. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value in tuberculosis and metastatic carcinoma. Methods: A total of 70 patients out of 180 patients at Geetanjali Medical College & Hospital, Udaipur, Rajasthan, who underwent FNAC were evaluated by histopathological examination for correlation. Aspiration smears and histopathological slides were evaluated and results were calculated for sensitivity, Specificity and predictive value. Results: Reactive lymphadenitis was seen in 37 patients followed by tubercular granulomatous lymphadenitis in 17 patients and malignant lesions in 16 patients. Histology revealed 16 patients of tubercular lymphadenitis, 41 of reactive changes, 11 of metastasis in lymph nodes and 5 of lymphomas. Correlating the findings, we could achieve 100% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity for tubercular lymphadenopathy and for metastatic it was 98.5% and 100% respectively. Conclusions: We have discovered FNAC an agreeable instrument in the conclusion of tubercular and harmful lymphadenopathy. FNAC utilized as a part of conjunction with clinical discoveries, radiological and research center examinations can be a financially savvy strategy for the determination of lymphadenopathy

Multiplex polymerase chain reaction using insertion sequence 6110 (IS6110) and mycobacterial protein fraction from BCG of Rm 0.64 in electrophoresis target genes for diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis.

Purpose: Tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLA) is a common manifestations of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) accounting for 30-40% of cases. Prompt diagnosis and timely initiation of anti-tubercular therapy (ATT) is the key for successful clinical outcome. This study was carried out to evaluate multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPCR) using MPB64 and IS6110, and compare with the conventional methods for rapid diagnosis of TBLA. Materials and Methods: In our study, lymph node fine-needle aspirates of patients were evaluated for TBLA. They were classified as Group I: TBLA group, divided into (a) Confirmed TBLA cases (n0 = 80): Culture/smear-positive or cytological examination showing presence of epithelioid cell granuloma with or without multinucleate giant cell and caseation necrosis with presence of AFB, and (b) suspected TBLA cases ( n = 30): Culture/smear-negative and cytological examination showing presence of epithelioid cell granuloma and response to ATT and Group II (Control) (n = 25): Patients of lymphadenopathy confirmed to be caused by other diseases such as sarcoidosis, lymphoma, etc., All samples were subjected to conventional tests and MPCR. For MPCR we used Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific deoxyribonucleic acid sequences specific for the MPB64 and IS6110 region. Results: In the confirmed TBLA group, Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) smear, cytology, culture, and MPCR positivity was 30%, 70%, 26.3%, and 91.3% respectively. In the suspected TBLA group, smear and culture were negative, and sensitivity of cytology and MPCR was 73.3% and 86.6%, respectively. In the control group all tests were found to be negative, thus giving a specificity of 100% to all the tests in the study. Conclusion: In conclusion, techniques like MPCR with high sensitivity and specificity can play an important role in rapid diagnosis of TBLA.

A study of tubercular lymphadenitis: A comparison of various laboratory diagnostic modalities with a special reference to tubercular polymerase chain reaction.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to compare various laboratory diagnostic methods, namely histopathological examination, Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain, AFB culture by conventional Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) method and fluorescence-based mycobacterial growth indicator tube (MGIT) technique and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in clinically suspected cases of tubercular lymphadenitis. Materials and Methods: A total of 65 lymph nodes biopsied from patients clinically suspected of having tubercular lymph nodes were included. Specimens were processed for AFB culture after NaOH-NALC concentration and inoculation on LJ medium and using the MGIT system. PCR was performed on all specimens using a commercial nested PCR kit targeting IS6110 insertion element of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. All lymph node specimens were subjected to histopathological examination. Results: Of the 65 lymph nodes, 37 (56.9%) were positive on MGIT culture and 45 (69.2%) were positive by PCR. Histopathology showed maximum sensitivity (96%) but with compromised specificity (78.5%). PCR showed 90.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The mean turnaround time for mycobacterial growth in smear negative specimens was 30 days determined by LJ and 20 days by MGIT techniques. Conclusion: PCR is a rapid and useful method for diagnosis of TB lymphadenitis and definitely increases the positive predictive value of a positive histopathology report. MGIT is better than LJ culture as regards time to positivity and higher yield.

Efficacy of an in-house polymerase chain reaction assay for rapid diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with tubercular lymphadenitis: Comparison with fine needle aspiration cytology and conventional techniques.

Introduction: Tubercular lymphadenitis (TB-L) is the most common manifestation of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Excisional biopsy with histopathological examination, Ziehl-Neelsen staining (ZNS) and culture and fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology, although useful in the diagnosis of TB-L, cannot diagnose a substantial proportion of cases. We investigated the role of an in-house polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the IS6110 gene from the FNA material in the diagnosis of the disease. Materials and Methods: The clinical profile of 150 patients with lymphadenopathy was noted and the fine needle aspirate was collected. After cytological processing, ZNS and culture on Lowenstein-Jensen media, mycobacterial DNA was isolated from the residual aspirate material and IS6110 gene PCR was performed. Results of cytology, ZNS, culture and IS6110 gene PCR were compared. Results: There were 49 confirmed patients of TB-L based on laboratory parameters (either culture isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis or any two of cytology, ZNS, PCR positive) and clinical response to therapy. Sensitivity and specificity of FNA was 89.8% and 96%, of ZNS was 40.8% and 99%, of culture was 40.8% and 100% and of IS6110 gene PCR test was 100% and 92.1%. Conclusion: IS6110 PCR can be considered a valuable adjunct to cytology, ZNS and culture techniques in the diagnosis of TB-L.

Evaluation of polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using hupB gene in diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis in fine needle aspirates.

Backround: Although pulmonary tuberculosis(PTB) is the most common manifestation of tuberculosis, extra pulmonary tuberculosis(EPTB) has equal significance. Among the extra pulmonary manifestations, tubercular lymphadenitis (TBL) is the most common form. Objectives: To perform PCR on fine needle aspirates of lymphnode by using hupB gene as target. To compare the sensitivity and specificity of PCR with culture, cytology, serology and clinical response to therapy. Material & Methods: After processing the samples by Universal Sample Processing(USP) method,two step nested PCR was performed using two sets of primers(N1S1 & CTFR) of hupB gene. All patients were put on ATT and were followed up for two months. The response to therapy was considered as the gold standard in our study. Results: The PCR assay for hupB gene was positive in 85 patients. Of these, 82% patients showed infection with M. tuberculosis, 1% was positive for M. bovis and 2% showed co- infection with both M. tuberculosis and M. bovis. The PCR assay of hupB gene in our study showed a sensitivity of 87.4% and specificity of 66.7%. Conclusion: PCR assay for hup B gene is a rapid means of diagnosis of tubercular lymphadenitis.

Co-existing tubercular axillary lymphadenitis withcarcinoma breast can falsely over-stage the disease - Case series.

The synchronous occurrence of tuberculosis and carcinoma in breast is unusual. The simultaneous occurrence of both the diseases can complicate the neoplastic disease. The diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in a patient with cancer assumes importance as it can prevent high mortality in patients with co-existent disease and thereby create problems in treatment decision. Axillary lymph node enlargement in breast cancer patient is not always caused by metastatic tumour of the breast even in the ipsilateral axillary nodes. We present here six case reports as an example of tuberculous axillary lymphadenitis co-existing with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Accurate diagnosis has helped in down-staging carcinoma of the breast and also in identifying curable disease.