A Cytological (FNAC) Study of Cervical Lymph Nodes In Tertiary Care Centre.

ABSTRACT

In a retrospective crossectional observational study of seventy four patients who underwent FNAC of cervical lymph nodes over a period of 6 months were included in the study. Four patients whose aspiration yielded inadequate material were excluded from the study. Cytological reporting was done according to standard guidelines and the diagnosis was classified as nonspecific reactive lymphadenitis (42.8%), tuberculous lymphadenitis (30%), metastasis (14.3%), acute supportive lymphadenitis (5.7%), lymphoma (5.7%) and leukemic infiltration (1.4%). In large number of cases FNAC alone is enough for diagnosis in proper clinical setting and surgical procedures like biopsy can be avoided even in tertiary care settings.This study highlights the usefulness of FNAC as a reliable method for diagnosis of cervical lymphadenopathy.