Background: The role of aspiration cytology has largely been ignored in pediatric population. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in non-hematological neoplasms in children in our institution, which is a rural tertiary care center.
Materials and methods: A total of 88 cases of non-hematological pediatric mass lesions were studied in which cytopathological diagnosis could be corroborated with histopathology.
Results: Out of all the cases, 70 (80%) cases were benign tumors and 18 (20%) were malignant tumors. Fibroadenoma (37.9%) comprised the majority of cases in the benign category while small round cell tumors (SRCTs) (44.4%) comprised the majority of cases in the malignant category. Definite diagnosis could be offered based on the cytomorphology in 79.5% cases, while in 20.5% of cases only a broad cytological classification could be offered. Among the malignant lesions, FNAC showed 100% sensitivity while a specific diagnosis was made in 90% of cases.
Conclusion: FNAC proved to be a rapid and fairly accurate tool in diagnosing non-hematological tumors in the pediatric age group.
Keywords: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC); non-hematological neoplasms; pediatric.