Analysis of the histopathological findings of lymph node biopsies at a tertiary care centre

Abstract

Background: Lymph nodes are spread throughout the body and are routinely checked for abnormalities. These lymph nodes have the potential to become infected or malignant. The swelling of lymph nodes and the nodes which are abnormal in terms of size and/or number is commonly known as lymphadenopathy. One of the most common causes of lymphadenopathy observed is reactive lymphadenitis followed by granulomatous lymphadenitis. For diagnosis of lymph node biopsies, excisional biopsy and histopathological analysis are considered as the ‘gold standard’. Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive and a cross-sectional study of all the patients with lymph node biopsies seen in Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute from January 2018 till March 2022. Histopathology reports of lymph node biopsies of patients required at Bhaktivedanta Hospital and Research Institute were included in the study. Results: The most common diagnosis is of tuberculous lymphadenitis which accounted for 251 (53.2%) of the total 469 cases. Tuberculous lymphadenitis was most commonly observed in females (68.92%) as compared to males (31.07%). Cancer cases which accounted for 83 (17.70%) cases formed the second most common diagnosis in which females (53.01%) accounted for most cases as compared to males (46.99%). Conclusions: Enlarged lymph nodes should undergo fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), truecut biopsy and/or excisional biopsy for correct diagnosis. The diagnostic spectrum ranges from benign reactive to TB and also malignancies.

Spectrum of Patterns in Lymph Node Histopathology at A Tertiary Healthcare Centre in Hadoti Region

“…These findings are consistent with studies conducted by Shah B et al, Ashwini AS et al, Samina Ali et al, Dr. Shubhangi V Agale et al and Vidhyadhar R[3,4,7,8,12] The least frequent site to be involved was inguinal with 4 (3.92%) cases. Similar pattern was observed in studies conducted by Ashwini et al and Pallavi SMS et al[4,6] Among the non-neoplastic lesions of lymph nodes, reactive lymphadenitis was frequently encountered.…”

“…Similar pattern was observed in studies conducted by Ashwini et al and Pallavi SMS et al[4,6] Among the non-neoplastic lesions of lymph nodes, reactive lymphadenitis was frequently encountered. This resembles the studies concluded by Ashwini al, Damle R et al, Goyal S et al and Arun Roy et al[4,9,10,13] However, some studies, such as those directed by Shah B et, Pallavi SMS et al, Dr. Shubhangi V Agale et al and Gupta N et al concluded that tuberculosis is the most common among non-neoplastic lesions [3,6,8,11]. As for the site involvement by the disease our study shows reactive follicular hyperplasia to be involving mostly the cervical, mesenteric, inguinal, and iliac lymph node while metastasis was found mostly in axillary lymph node which was similar to the study done by Ashwini et al[4] in case of cervical lymph node but it differs in case of axillary, mesenteric, inguinal and iliac lymph nodes.This study also illustrates that among the neoplastic lesions, metastasis was the most common etiological factor.…”