RESUMO
Objective: To find out the frequency of different pathologies causing enlarged cervical lymph nodes
Study Design: A Prospective observational study
Place and Duration: Study carried out from 1[st] Jan 2006 to 31[st] Dec 2006 at ENT Department of Khayber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Department of Pathology Kabeer Medical College, Peshawar and Department of Histopathology, Combined Military Hospital Peshawar Cantonment
Methodology: The patients presenting with cervical lymph node enlargement for more than one month duration were subjected to Fine Needle Aspiration. A Core Needle or open biopsy was performed when FNAC yielded a non diagnostic aspirate or when a histological confirmation of a malignant tumour was required
Results: A total of 116 patients, aged between 8-72 years with a mean age of 34.64 and male to female ratio of 1.23:1 were studied. Tuberculosis was the commonest cause of lymphadenopathy 36.2% [n=42], followed by metastatic disease 29.3% [n=34], reactive hyperplasia was the third commonest cause with 19.3% [n=22], followed by Lymphoma [both Non Hodgkin's and Hodgkin's] accounting for 13.8% of cases. A single case 0.86% of Kikuchi's or Necrotizing lymphadenitis was also found
Conclusion: Tuberculosis was the underlying cause in younger patients while metastatic disease was more commonly found in elderly patients