Utility of fine needle aspiration cytology as a diagnostic tool in evaluating cervical lymph node enlargement in a tertiary cancer centre

Shreedevi Bhat; Kandathil Joseph Philip; Sangeetha K. Nayanar; T.P. Sajith Babu

Volume : VIII, Issue : VIII, August - 2018

Utility of fine needle aspiration cytology as a diagnostic tool in evaluating cervical lymph node enlargement in a tertiary cancer centre

Shreedevi Bhat, Kandathil Joseph Philip, Sangeetha K. Nayanar, T. P. Sajith Babu

Abstract :

Background: Cervical lymph node enlargement is one of the common complaints among patients in the outpatient clinics of cancer hospitals. This study was undertaken to determine the utility of FNAC as a diagnostic tool in evaluating cervical lymph nodeaspirates and to test the discrepancy between the cytological diagnosis from FNAC and histological diagnosis from biopsy specimens. Results:There were 234 patients who underwent FNAC of cervical lymph nodes. Most common diagnosis comprised of neoplastic lesions (63.7%) of which 61.1% were metastatic carcinomas. Majority of the metastatic carcinomas were squamous cell carcinomas (50.4%).The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall accuracy were 95.5%, 100%, 100%, 91.3% and 95.7% respectively. Conclusion: FNAC is a simple, accurate and reliable cytological tool in the evaluation of enlarged cervical lymph nodes to get accurate diagnosis for the early management.