Aspiration cytology study of lymphadenopathy: Is EPTB a common pathology? A three-year retrospective study in Melmaruvathur teaching hospital

Background: Lymphadenopathy is a common clinical presentation among all age group and the aetiology may varies from inflammatory condition to malignancy. In India, tuberculous lymphadenopathy is quiet common. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the common pathology in lymphadenopathy by fine needle aspiration cytology study and to observe the spectrum of cytomorphological features in granulomatous lymphadenitis to enhance the aetiological awareness and diagnostic accuracy. Materials and methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Melmauvathur teaching hospital for a period of three years between 2016-2018.Patients subjected to Fine needle aspiration cytology study for lymphadenopathy were included in this study irrespective of age and sex. All demographic, clinical and cytological findings were collected from laboratory documents and statistically analysed. Results: A total of 167 cases were studied, of which 100 Cases were female and 67 were male 81 cases were children below 14 years and 86 were adults. 161 nodes were cervical nodes and 91% of node showed inflammatory pathology. Granulomatous adenitis was the common pathology observed in 107 cases (64%) which was statistically significant (P= < 0.00001) followed by nonspecific adenitis in 45 cases (27%). The common age group affected with granulomatous adenitis were adult between 15-30 years (n=37; 34.5%) followed by children between 5-10 years (n=24; 22.4%) with females predominance (65. 4%). Among the cytomorphological features, late granulomatous changes with caseation were seen predominantly in adults and early granulomatous changes were seen commonly in children and the specific morphology of granuloma with neutrophilic infiltration was predominantly seen in female (82.4%). Conclusion: Granulomatous inflammation was the common pathology affecting cervical nodes predominantly. Among age, increased prevalence occurs in adults between 15-30 years followed by children between 5-10 years with female preponderance.