AbstractBackground: Tuberculous lymphadenitis is one of common cause of peripheral lymphadenopathy in developing countries. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is important tool in early detection and can be further supported by demonstration of acid fast bacilli. Objective: A review of Cytomorphological features, in correlation with frequency of presence of acid fast tubercular bacilli in peripheral lymphadenopathy. Method: This retrospective study was conducted in the department of Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. Records of 726 cases of lymphadenopathy reported from June 2014 to December 2016 were reviewed. A total of 240 cases were reported as tuberculous lymphadenitis. Reports were studied in respect to age, sex, clinical diagnosis, site of aspiration and cytological findings. Smears were stained by May-Grunwald Giemsa (MGG), Papanicolaou (PAP) and ZN stain. Empirically Cytomorphological patterns were divided into five categories. Results: A total of 726 cases of lymphadenopathy subjected to FNAC was studied, of which 240 were tuberculous lymphadenitis. Most of positive cases were in third decade of age with female preponderance. Most common site was cervical lymph node (43.75%). Nature of aspirate was whitish in 65.4% cases. Caseous necrosis with intact or degenerated inflammatory cells (40%) were predominant cytological finding. The overall AFB positivity in the series was 49.16%. Conclusion: FNACis useful tool to diagnose tuberculous lymphadenopathy and its sensitivity is further increased by adding with acid fast staining.
Keywords: Fine Needle Aspiration; Cervical; Lymphadenopathy; Tuberculous; Epithelioid; Granuloma
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