Patterns of salivary gland lesions on fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC)

A diverse range of inflammatory, cystic and neoplastic processes affect salivary glands.Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a reliable tool for evaluation of salivary gland lesions. To analyse the cytomorphological features of salivary gland lesions and to assess the frequency of distribution of these lesions. It was an observational study conducted in the Department of Pathology, Govt. Medical College, Jammu. FNAC was performed on patients presenting with salivary gland swelling. May-Grunwald-Giemsa (MGG) and Papanicolaou (PAP) stained smears were examined under light microscope. The cytomorphological features were analysed and diagnosis was made. There were 65 cases which included 31 (47.7%) males and 34 (52.3%) females. The mean age of patients was 42.96 years. On microscopic examination, neoplastic lesions were 35 (53.8%) and non neoplastic lesions were 30 (46.2%). Pleomorphic adenoma was the most common benign neoplastic lesion and also was the most frequently diagnosed lesion in our study (21, 32.3%). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma cases were maximum among malignant lesions (4, 6.2%). Parotid gland was involved in majority of cases. FNAC is a simple, rapid, reliable tool for the evaluation of salivary gland lesions thereby helping clinicians in deciding the further management plan.