Cytomorphological evaluation and diagnostic patterns in FNAC specimens: Insights from 251 case evaluations.

Abstract

Objective: Background Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a relatively inexpensive and minimally invasive diagnostic tool that is highly used in the assessment of palpable lesions in a wide range of anatomical locations. This paper will divide and examine the cytologic appearances, diagnostic distribution, and clinical aspects of the FNAC reports of a tertiary care pathology unit. Study Design: Retrospective Observational study. Setting: Department of Pathology, Indus Medical College and Hospital, The University of Modern Sciences, Tando Muhammad Khan. Period: April 2019 to April 2025. Methods: A total of 251 FNAC reports were retrospectively analysed. Cases were classified according to cytology diagnosis and type of lesion; site of the anatomy; demographics of the patient and guidelines to treatment. The descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation were conducted to determine patterns and associations of diagnoses. The research was approved by our institutional ethical review board. Inclusion Criteria: FNAC reports with complete clinical information and adequate cytological material. Patients of all ages and both genders. Exclusion Criteria: FNAC reports with inadequate or non-diagnostic samples. Cases lacking essential demographic or clinical information. Repeated FNACs from the same lesion during the study period (only the first adequate sample was included). Results: The sample had 168 females (66.9%) and 83 males (33.07%) with an average age of 36.60 +- 18.41 years. The most frequent types of the diagnosis included benign lesion (28.8%), malignant lesion (18.4%), and inflammatory conditions (14.0%). The tuberculous lymphadenitis was identified to be 12.0%. The most sampled anatomic sites were cervical lymph nodes (22.3%) and breast (18.7%). The malignancy rate of definite diagnoses was 18.4% with the mean age of malignancy at 46.8 years as compared to 36.9 years in benign lesions. Conclusion: FNAC shows high levels of usefulness in the classification of various pathological lesions with different cytomorphological features. The epidemiological concerns of the area are underscored in the high rate of tuberculous lymphadenitis in this series. Histopathological correlation and standardized reporting systems are necessary to achieve the best possible diagnostic accuracy and patient management.