Diagnostic utility of fine needle aspiration cytology at a peripheral district headquarters hospital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55629/pakjpathol.v37i2.1022Abstract
Objective: To determine the epidemiological and cytomorphological spectrum of such swellings at a district headquarters hospital and examined associations of lesion nature with sex and age.
Material and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024 enrolled 187 consecutive patients of either gender and all ages with palpable superficial swellings; deep-seated and visceral lesions were excluded. FNAC used a 22–24gauge needle, with Haematoxylin and Eosin staining. Data were analysed in SPSS 23.0 using the chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, with p < 0.05 considered significant.
Results: The mean age was 34.3 (15.2) years and 137 patients (73.3%) were female (female-to-male ratio 2.7:1). The thoraco-abdominal region was commonest (97; 51.9%), led by the breast, followed by the head and neck region (71; 38.0%). Lipomatous lesions were the commonest diagnosis (48; 25.7%), then granulomatous/tuberculous lymphadenitis (30; 16.0%) and fibroadenoma (17; 9.1%). Atypical, suspicious or malignant cytology was significantly commoner above 40 years (30.8% versus 8.3%; p < 0.001) but unrelated to sex (p = 0.16); anatomical region was strongly associated with the diagnostic category (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: FNAC is a simple, rapid and inexpensive first-line investigation that characterizes a wide spectrum of palpable superficial swellings even in a peripheral, resource-limited setting, and helps identify older patients at higher risk of malignancy.
Keywords: Fine-needle aspiration cytology, Lymphadenopathy, Tuberculosis.
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