Spectrum Of Head And Neck Swellings In The Rural Population Of India Based On Fine Needle Aspiration Findings

Introduction:Head and Neck swellings are of great clinical significance as underlying disease may range from a treatable infectious etiology to malignant neoplasm. In fact it is also essential to establish the origin of swelling in question sometimes. Fine needle aspiration cytology plays a vital role in solving all this issues, and fine needle aspiration cytology is now being recognized as a rapid diagnostic technique because of its simplicity and high accuracy.Aim:This retrospective study was carried out at the Department of Pathology, Maharaja Agrasen Medical Collage, Agroha for a period of Dec 2010 to Dec 2011. The aim was to know the pattern and frequency of head and neck swelling in rural Indian population, and also to know the distribution of these lesions in relation to age and sex.Result:A total of 350 cases of head and neck swelling were observed during this period. Age of presentation varied from 1 year to 85 years with male to female ratio of 1.13 to 1. Lymph node enlargement was the commonest cause (50.85%), followed by thyroid lesions (22.85%). Salivary gland lesions comprised 8.5% of all lesions. Tuberculosis/Granulomatous lymphadenitis were the most common lesion observed constituting 19.14 %( n=67) followed by malignant Neoplasm comprising 17.15 %( n=60) among all lesions. Other common cause of swelling in region observed were due to Reactive lymphadenitis (16.85%, n =59), Thyroid Goiter (16%, n=56), Cystic lesion (7.42%n=26) and Abscess/inflammatory lesion (8.28% n=29).Conclusion:During the first three decades, most of the swelling of the head and neck region was either due to Tuberculosis/Granulomatous lymphadenitis or due to Reactive lymphadenitis. While in later decades i.e. 4 th to 6 th decades, most of the swelling is due to Metastatic carcinoma. Fine needle aspiration cytology is useful in diagnosis and differentiating Neoplastic and Non Neoplastic lesions.