Umar Farooq Khan, Rana Ahsan ul Haq Khan, Junaid Ashraf, Noreen Umar Barki.
Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy versus Excision Biopsy in Tuberculous Cervical Lymphadenitis.
J Rawal Med Coll Jan ;5(1):21-4.

Ninety eight patients with cervical lymphadenopathy underwent Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) followed by lymph node excision biopsy at Federal Government Services Hospital, Islamabad. 16 were found to have malignant disease and were excluded from the study. Of the remaining 82, seventy one were diagnosed to have tuberculous lymphadenitis on FNAB followed by cytology. Lymph node excision biopsy followed by histopathological examination confirmed tuberculosis in all these 71 patients. In the remaining eleven patients, where the diagnosis was either nonspecific lymphadenopathy or inconclusive on FNAB, a further three patients were labelled as tuberculous after lymph node excision biopsy and histopathology. (FNAB Sensitivity 95.8%, Specificity 100%, Positive Predictive Value 100%, Negative Predictive Value 98%). It is concluded that FNAB compares very favourably with excision biopsy for the diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. It is reliable, cheap, cost-effective as well as rapid and is followed by fewer complications as compared to excision biopsy.

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