Fine needle aspiration cytology of head and neck lesions: A study at tertiary care hospital of Gujarat

Abstract

Background and Objectives: A frequent presentation of wide variety of head and neck masses ranging from inflammatory, cystic or infective; being non-neoplastic to neoplastic in nature is noted. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is easy to perform, quick and minimally invasive procedure applied for diagnosing different types of swellings like cervical lymph nodes, thyroid, soft tissue and salivary glands in head and neck region. This study is done to assess the role of FNAC and its benefits in diagnosis of head and neck masses.Materials and Methods: A hospital based observational study was conducted among 488 patients with palpable head and neck swellings in Department of Pathology from January 2022 to December 2022 at Sheth L.G General Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Detailed clinical history of patient was noted and correlated with other investigations. FNAC was performed from palpable masses of head and neck regions and smears were prepared and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin stain.Results: Total 488 patients with palpable head and neck lesions were studied. Out of these, lymph node (75.82%) was the commonest involved site followed by thyroid lesions (17.22%), salivary gland lesions (3.07%), soft tissue lesions and miscellaneous (3.89%). Out of total 488 lesions, 377(77.25%) were inflammatory, 82(16.80%) were benign, 27(5.53%) were malignant and 02(0.4%) were indecisive.Conclusion: FNAC is simple, cost effective and first line procedure for diagnosis of palpable masses in head and neck region.