BACKGROUND: Lymphadenopathy is a common clinical presentation in HIV/AIDS patients and conventional lymph node biopsy is the standard procedure for the diagnosis of this condition but the procedure incurs a high risk for healthcare providers. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the cytological patterns of lymph node lesions in HIV/AIDS patients and to compare the results of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) with conventional lymph node biopsy, along with the correlation of findings with CD4 count. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a prospective comparison of an alternative procedure for the diagnosis of lymph node lesions in HIV/AIDS patients, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC), with the conventional method. The study population comprises 73 HIV/AIDS patients who attended the Department of medicine (ART centre), N.S.C.B Medical College Jabalpur. Aspirates were stained routinely with haematoxylin and eosin, Wrights and Ziehl-Neelsen stains. Special stains were done in selected cases. RESULTS: Cytological diagnosis included reactive (46. 6%), tuberculous (31.5%), non-specific chronic granulomatous (8.2%), suppurative (9.5%), Hodgkins lymphoma (1.4%), Suspicious Non-Hodgkins lymphoma n (1.4%), Smear inadequate (1.4%). Reactive and tuberculous lesions were further categorized. Each lesion was correlated with clinical details and CD4 counts. AFB grading was done on Ziehl-Neelsen stained smears in tuberculous lymphadenitis cases. CONCLUSION: Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of lymph node is very useful for segregating lymphadenopathy cases in HIV/AIDS patient. FNAC is practical, convenient, safe, and relatively painless. Correlation of lesions with mean CD4 count and AFB grading reflects immunity, stage of disease and disease activity.

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Majority of patients who experience a Coronary Heart disease event have one or more of the conventional risk factors for atherosclerosis and so do many people who have not yet experienced such an event. Thus predictive models based on conventional risk factors have lower than the desired accuracy, providing a stimulus to search for new factors to predict accurately the risk of CAD. In this regard newer risk factors like homocysteine, Lp (a), insulin resistances are the important ones and are called as 'novel risk factors'. The study was undertaken to find the prediction of CAD risk by homocysteine in comparison with other conventional risk factors. The data obtained suggests a very high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy with above 90% positive prediction value for homocysteine in CAD patients when compared to commonest conventional risk factors. Treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia is cost effective in a developing country like India so early diagnosis of hyperhomocysteinemia can reduce morbidity and mortality of patient with coronary artery disease.