Retrospective study of Lymphadenopathy by FNAC in National Institute of Health Islamabad-Pakistan

The objective of the study was to review the pathology of lymph node disorders in adults with peripheral lymphadenopathy. A five year (1998 - 2003) retrospective study of lymph node Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) performed at Histopathlogy department of National Institute of Health Islamabad. Females constitute the major group with 130 cases (64%) in our study. Fifty four percent of the cases were below 20 years of age. Benign lesions were found in 91% of the patients, the majority of which were tuberculous lymphadenitis (52%) followed by nonspecific reactive hyperplasia (39%). Frequency of metastatic carcinoma was 9 (4%), malignant lymphoma 2 (1.0%) and insufficient aspirate in 10 (5%) cases. The commonest site of lymphadenopathy was cervical (71%) followed by submandibular (11%), inguinal 8% and axillary 7%. Reactive hyperplasia was more frequent in female (62%) than male patients (38%), similarly tuberculous lymphadenitis was comparatively more frequent in female (64%) than male patients (36%) in our study. Tuberculous lymphadenitis was the most common pathological diagnosis in young females (15 - 25 years). It is concluded that the pattern of disease is similar to that of other countries of the region.