SPECTRUM OF MALIGNANT LESIONS IN THE LYMPH NODE ON FNAC IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN HIMACHAL PRADESH.

Background: Lymphadenopathy, is any abnormal enlargement of the lymph node due to the inltration by the
inammatory or the neoplastic cells. This is the most common and may be the only presentation of the patient attending
the outpatient department (OPD). Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple, reliable and rst line OPD investigation in such cases.
Material And Methods: It is a retrospective study carried out over a period of 18 months (1/1/2021) to 30/6/2022) in the Department of
Pathology, Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) Shimla, a tertiary care hospital of the state. All the cytology cases received in the department
were included in the study. Results: Of the total 2870 cases, received in the department of Pathology, 880 (30.6%) cases were from the lymph
node. Benign pathology was seen in 645 (73.3%) cases and 235 (26.7%) cases had a malignant lesion. Of these 235 malignant cases, 205 (87.5%)
cases were positive for malignancy while 30 (12.8%) cases revealed a hematologic malignancy. Majority of the patients were above 40 years of
age. Males contributed to 58.7% cases while 41.3% were females. Cervical lymph node was most common lymph node involved followed by
supraclavicular lymph nodes. The squamous cell carcinoma (36.1%) was the most common metastatic lesion followed by adenocarcinoma
(28.3%). NHL was more common among the lymphoproloiferative disorders. FNAC is a rapid a Conclusion: nd a fairly reliable test for the
diagnosis of metastatic lesion and at the same time giving the clue about the origin of the primary occult malignancy.