Utility of cytology in head and neck pathology- A one year study

Abstract

Introduction: Head and neck lesions most commonly arise in cervical lymphnodes followed by thyroid gland, soft tissues and salivary gland. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is a pre surgical procedure done on OPD (Out Patient Department) basis having advantages like; it is simple, minimally invasive, cost effective and repeatable diagnostic tool. Even though these lesions are common, clinicians routinely face problems in their diagnosis. Hence FNAC plays an important role in providing quick and accurate diagnosis guiding the clinician for appropriate treatment. Aims and objectives: 1.To study the occurrence of various head and neck lesions in this region; 2.To study the cytological features of various head and neck lesions; 3.To correlate the cytological features with clinical data; 4.To emphasize the utility of FNAC in the diagnosis of head and neck lesions. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted among 500 patients with palpable head and neck lesions including oral cavity attending GIMS Hospital Kalaburagi and the Department of Pathology Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalaburagi from January 2018 to December 2018. Relevant clinical details were recorded and written consent was obtained. Results: A total of 500 FNAC cases of head and neck lesions were included in the present study in which 172(34.4%) were males and 328(65.6%) were females. Patients age ranged from 8 months to 80 years. Peak incidence was seen in between 21-40 years of age. Lymph node lesions 201(40.2%), were the most common lesions followed by thyroid lesions 138(27.6%).Soft tissues 123(24.6%) and lesions from major and minor salivary glands 25(5%) were the other head and neck lesions seen in this study. Reactive lymph node hyperplasia (n=105), colloid goiter (n=78), epidermoid cyst (n= 62) and pleomorphic adenoma (n=12) were the predominant diagnosis of lymphnodes, thyroid gland, soft tissues and salivary gland lesions respectively. Secondaries to the lymph node