Study of Cytodiagnosis of Head and Neck Neoplastic Lesions and Comparison with Histopathology

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction The development of aspiration cytology is one of the biggest advances in anatomic pathology. Cancer has become one of the 10 leading causes of death in India. Head and neck neoplasia is a major form of cancer in India, accounting for 23% of all cancers in males and 6% in females. The advantages of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) are: it is safe, sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of malignancy, gives a rapid report, requires little equipment, causes minimal discomfort to the patient, is an out patient procedure, repeatable and cost effective avoids the use of frozen section, reduces the rate of exploratory procedures and allows a definitive diagnosis of inoperable cases. FNAC is of particular relevance in head and neck lesions because of easy assessibility, excellent patient compliance, minimally invasive nature of procedure and helping to avoid surgery in non-neoplastic lesions, inflammatory conditions and also some tumors. Aims and objectives To test the utility of FNAC, to establish the diagnostic accuracy of cytology by comparison with histopathology diagnosis and to establish the sensitivity and specificity of this technique in head and neck neoplastic lesion. Materials and methods The present study was undertaken in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Hospital, Nashik, between January 2008 and June 2009. Results In the present study, maximum number of aspirates from head and neck neoplastic lesions were found to be of lymph nodes (56.37%). Of the total 378 cases, 71.69% were malignant. 6th decade was the most common age group affected (26.46%). Mean age group was found to be 45.84 years. Males were more commonly affected (65.34%). The male to female ratio was 1.8:1. Out of 92 cases available for follow-up, 85.87% of the cases were same as histopathological diagnosis. Summary and conclusion Excisional biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis of head and neck neoplastic lesion, cytological study can establish the diagnosis of the majority of head and neck neoplastic lesions and can be recommended as an adjunct to histopathology. How to cite this article Amit MU, Patel HL, Parmar BH. Study of Cytodiagnosis of Head and Neck Neoplastic Lesions and Comparison with Histopathology. Int J Head Neck Surg 2013; 4(3):119-122.