Cervical lymphadenopathy: a common diagnostic dilemma

ABSTRACT

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology [FNAC] in cervical lymphadenopathy using histopathologic examination of the excised lymph node as gold standard. Cross sectional study. Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi in collaboration with Armed Forces Institute of Pathology [AFIP] Rawalpindi, from January 2007 to January 2008. A total of 70 patients suffering from cervical lymphadenopathy were selected. After obtaining informed consent FNAC was obtained from the lymph node. Afterwards same lymph node was removed under local anesthesia for histopathology. All specimens were sent to AFIP for histopathology reporting. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and diagnostic efficacy for both the modalities were calculated. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10. Mean and standard deviation for age and gender were calculated. Mean age of the patients was 38.14 +/- 16.88 year. FNAC findings showed a sensitivity of 79.5%, specificity 47.61%, positive predictive value 78%, negative predictive value 50% and diagnostic efficacy 70%. FNAC appears well established method of diagnosis, as its results compared favorably in many respects with those obtained from traditional surgical biopsy.