Abstract

"Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple and reliable technique for study of various causes of lymphadenopathy.
Aims: To study cytomorphological patterns of FNAC of lymph nodes and its utility in establishing diagnosis of lymphadenopathy.
Methods: Total 580 cases of the lymph node FNAC were studied from May 2011 to April 2012 in Cytopathology department of Government Medical College, Surat.
Results: Maximum numbers of cases were in the age group of 21-30 years. The most common lesion encountered was tuberculous lymphadenitis (50.52%) followed by metastatic tumours (27.06%), reactive lymph node (14.66%), acute lymphadenitis (5%) and lymphoma (2.76%) respectively.
Conclusion: FNAC is safe, rapid and cost-effective method in es-tablishing the diagnosis in large number of cases of lymphadeno-pathy."

Key words: Fine needle aspiration cytology, lymphadenopathy, Tuberculois