Clinical value of fine needle aspiration cytology in pediatric cervical lymphadenopathy patients under 12-years-of-age.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of pediatric cervical lymphadenopathy in patients under 12-years-of-age.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed to evaluate patients under 12-years-of-age with cervical lymphadenopathy who underwent lymph node excision biopsy from January 2007 to June 2013. The results of FNAC were compared them with the corresponding histopathological diagnosis.

RESULTS: Eighteen of the 27 patients had undergone FNAC before performing excision biopsy, which diagnosed benign diseases in 15 patients and malignant diseases in three patients. All 18 patients underwent excision biopsy. FNAC had a diagnostic sensitivity of 100%, positive-predictive value of 93.3%, and accuracy of 94.5% for diagnosing pediatric cervical lymphadenopathy.

CONCLUSIONS: FNAC is a useful and accurate adjunct for the evaluation of pediatric cervical lymphadenopathy. FNAC should be part of the initial evaluation of pediatric patients with cervical lymphadenopathy before determining the treatment plan.