The Role Of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology In Palpable Head And Neck Masses. 1719-1725
Correspondence
Dr Hilda Fernandes Professor,Dept of
pathology Fr Muller Medical college
Kankanady-575002
Mangalore,(INDIA)E.mail:
hilda67@rediffmail.com
Background And Objective: This study is done to evaluate the role of FNAC in palpable head and neck masses and also to study their distribution. A correlation was done between cytology and histopathology whenever surgical specimens were available and to assess the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in various head and neck lesions.
Materials And Methods: From 620 cases, FNA smears were taken and stained with PAP, MGG and special stains whenever required. FNA results were interpreted and analysed according to the anatomical sites and the lesions were categorized into inflammatory and neoplastic conditions. The cytological findings were compared with those of histopathology wherever available. With the help of K value, the agreement between the methods was de-termined.
Results: Among 620 cases, histopathological correlations were available only in 129 cases. The sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of the positive test, predictive value of the negative test and false negatives of the thyroid lesions which were being detected were 83.33%, 100%, 100%, 97% and 16.66%, respectively. There were no false positives. The diag-nostic accuracy of the salivary gland, lymph node and soft tissue lesions were 100%.
Interpretation And Conclusion: There was perfect agreement in a majority of the lesions. The technique is simple, safe, convenient and an accurate method for tissue di-agnosis. Hence, FNAC is an effective diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of head and neck masses.