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Volume 7 Issue 12 (December, 2019)

Original Articles

Cytological spectrum of lesions involving supraclavicular lymph nodes- Experience from a Tertiary Care Centre
Jagriti Singh, Akhtar Un Nisa Salaria

Aim: This study was taken up with the aim to investigate the pattern of supraclavicular lymphadenopathy among patients referred to Pathology Department GMC, Jammu and to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Materials and Methods: Data of 185 patients who were subjected to FNAC following presentation of supraclavicular lymphadenopathy was collected from Department of Pathology, GMC, Jammu over one year (August 2016 to July 2017). Since in 18 patients as either the aspirate was inadequate or the opinion was equivocal, we analyzed the remaining 167 cases. Results: The right supraclavicular lymph node was enlarged in 52% cases, while the left supraclavicular lymph node alone was palpable in 41.3% cases and in 6.7% of cases, bilateral supraclavicular lymph nodes were palpable. Malignant pathology accounted for 82.6% (138/167) of the cases. These were mostly cases of metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (74/167, 44.3%), adenocarcinoma (46/167, 27.5%), small cell carcinoma (19/167, 11.4%) and lymphoma (18/167, 10.7%). There were 29 (17.4%) cases of tuberculosis. Conclusion: Enlarged supraclavicular lymph node is an important sign of some serious underlying pathology.FNAC is an excellent first line of investigation due to its low cost, simplicity, specificity and minimal invasiveness. Key words: Fine needle aspiration cytology; metastatic carcinoma; supraclavicular lymph nodes.

 
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