Age and gender wise distribution of cases presenting with cervical lymphadenopathy: A retrospective study

Introduction: Cervical lymphadenopathy is a common clinical presentation of various diseases its FNAC serves as an excellent clue to the underlying disease. The presentation of cervical lymphadenopathy varies in different age groups and in both the both the gender as well. Objective: To analyze the spectrum of lesions causing cervical lymphadenopathy as well as to see the age and gender wise distribution of cases of tubercular lymphadenitis. Materials and Methods: It is a retrospective study and included three years data. A total of 222 cases that underwent FNA for cervical lymphadenopathy were recorded with their clinical history. For all cases, MGG, Pap and AFB slides were re evaluated and results were recorded. Epidemiological variables were analyzed by cross tabulation to assess their relationship. Result: Out of 222 cases 117 cases were of Tubercular lymphadenitis followed by 81 cases of reactive lymphadenitis, 10 cases presented as metastatic deposit of squamous cell carcinoma, 9 with Lymphoma (NHL) followed by 5 cases of adenocarcinoma deposits. Females to males ratio in Tuberculosis lesions was 1.3:1. Conclusion: In both pediatric and adult population Tuberculosis was an important cause of cervical lymphadenopathy while in children less than two years reactive lymphadenitis was more common. Tuberculosis was more common in females as compared to males and here FNAC is an inexpensive and valuable fist line tool in assessing cervical lymphadenopathies.