Background: Lymphadenopathy is one of the most common clinical presentation among patients. In developing countries such as India, tuberculous (TB) lymphadenitis is one of the common causes of lymphadenopathy. Cytomorphology with acid-fast staining is a valuable diagnostic tool in cases of tuberculosis.Objective: To describe pattern of TB lymphadenitis presentation, and to compare results of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain in the diagnosis of TB lymphadenitis.Materials and Methods: Total 351 patients of lymphadenopathy referred to . FNAC was performed in all these patients and smears were prepared. Smears were stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain. ZN staining for acidfast bacilli (AFB) was carried out on separate slide.Results: Maximum number of patients (162; 46.15%) were from age group of 11-30 years. Total 351 cases [179 (50.99%) females and 172 (49.00%) males] were included in the study. Of 351 cases, 173 (49.28%) had tuberculosis, 141 (40.17%) had lymphadenitis other than tuberculosis, and 37 (10.54%) had malignant lymphadenopathy, including 2 (0.56%) cases of primary malignancy (i.e., lymphoma) and 35 (09.97%) of metastasis to lymph nodes. Overall, 119 (33.90%) cases were found to be positive for AFB on ZN staining.Conclusion: FNAC is an optimally selected, efficient, easy to perform, and economical test for initial diagnostic workup in patients with TB lymphadenitis. Supplementation of ZN stain with FNAC increases the rates of diagnosis.

Background:The incidence of lymphadenopathy appears to be increasing, especially among young adults all over the world. Frequent involvement of lymph node in regional and systemic diseases as well as their easy accessibility makesFNAC suitable tool for pathologists& clinicians. Inflammatory and immune reactions are the most frequent causes of lymph node enlargement and are self limiting in majority of cases. Lymphoid tissue undergoes reactive changes to a wide variety of antigenic stimuli. Tuberculosis, which is common in India, can be diagnosed by cytology of affected lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are also affected as a result of primary neoplasm of the node itself and from metastasis of malignant neoplasm from regional and distant organs. With the advent of FNAC, most of the inflammatory, reactive and neoplastic conditions can be diagnosed without biopsy. FNA isa helpful tool for taking decision regarding excision of node, distinguishing benign from malignant mass and deciding type of malignancy.It has the advantage that it can be done safely, rapidly and cheaply with minimal trauma at an outpatient setup or at the bedside. AIMs & Objectives:(1) To evaluate the role of FNAC in patients presenting with lymph node enlargement. (2)To find out the frequency of lymphadenopathy in different age groups. (3)To assess the distribution of various cytomorphological patterns of cervical lymphadenopathy; (4) To assess the age specific distribution of various cytomorphological patterns of cervical lymphadenopathy.