Muhammad Israr, Niamat Ullah, Fakhr-ul Islam, Mukhtiar Ali.
Ultrasonographic guided fine needle aspiration cytology versus histopathology of enlarged superficial lymph node.
Pak J Surg Jan ;30(1):22-6.

Objective: To asses the values of ultrasound guided fi ne needle aspiration cytology (USFNAC) and compare the fi nding with histopathology of the same lymph node aft er surgical excision. Design: Prospective study. Sett ing and Duration: Surgical unit of Saidu Teaching Hospital Saidu Sharif Swat from January 2007 to December 2009. Materials and methods: Th is study was conducted on 165 patients over a period of 2 years, having enlarged superfi cial lymph nodes. A routine physical examination was performed aft er taking a detailed history. All these patients’ neck, axilla and groin were then examined ultra sonographically. Ultra sound examination included assessment of soft tissue of the neck, axilla, groin, salivary gland, thyroid and vascular structure. Th e level and size of the enlarged lymph node were documented. Ultrasound guided FNAC was performed using 10 ml disposable syringe att ached to 22 gauge needle. At the same time surgical excision of the same lymph node was performed. Th en the FNAC fi ndings were compared with the histopathology. Results: Out of 165 patients 93 had benign and 72 were suff ering from malignant lymphadenopathy. Th e majority of lymph node with benign lesion were non specifi c reactive hyperplasia with out malignant feature and this was followed by tuberculous lymphadenitis. Out of 165 patients72 (43.63%) were suff ering from malignant lymph adenopathy and FNAC of 64 were confi rmed histologically, showing an over all accuracy of 88.88%. In two false negatively interpreted cases on FNAC a corresponding histopathology showed low grade lymphoma. Conclusion:Ultrasound guided FNAC is a rapid, safe, easy and cost effective diagnostic technique which can be used for initial diagnosis of benign as well as metastatic lymphadenopathy and also to confirm secondaries where primary tumour is evident and to assess the response to treatment.

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