DIAGNOSTIC UTILITY OF FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY (FNAC) IN THE EVALUATION OF PERIPHERAL LYMPHADENOPATHY IN AMINU KANO TEACHING HOSPITAL (AKTH) KANO OVER A 5 -YEAR PERIOD (AUGUST 2011- JULY 2016)

Abstract

Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) carried out on lymph node, constitutes
a significant proportion of FNAC in Kano. However, the reliability of FNAC as a first-line
investigation in the evaluation of peripheral lymphadenopathy has not been established in this
environment.
Objective: To determine the diagnostic utility of FNAC in evaluating common causes of
peripheral lymphadenopathy in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH).
Materials and Methods: A total of 86 patients with peripheral lymph node enlargements had
FNAC and excision biopsy for histology or cell block preparation of the same lymph node in
the retrospective and prospective arms of the study. Using histology as a gold standard, the
sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, test accuracy and concordance were deduced.
Results: The mean age of superficial lymphadenopathy was 32.5±18.5years while the male:
female sex ratio was 1.3:1. The frequencies of reactive lymphadenitis, chronic granulomatous
inflammation, lymphomas and metastatic carcinoma were fairly uniform at 27.9%, 20.9%,
23.3% and 22.1% respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive
values were 71.4%, 91.5%, 87.5% and 81.1% respectively. The test accuracy of FNAC was
83.7% while the concordance was 64.7%.
Conclusion: FNAC is reliable for screening and diagnosing peripheral lymph node lesions.
Its accuracy is highest for diagnosing metastatic carcinoma and lowest for lymphomas.
Cervical lymph node aspirates correlate better with histology than aspirates from axillary
lymph nodes.

DIAGNOSTIC UTILITY OF FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY (FNAC) IN THE EVALUATION OF PERIPHERAL LYMPHADENOPATHY IN AMINU KANO TEACHING HOSPITAL (AKTH) KANO OVER A 5 -YEAR PERIOD (AUGUST 2011- JULY 2016)

Keywords: Peripheral lymphadenopathy, FNAC, Diagnostic Utility