Role of FNAC in Early Detection and Diagnosis of Lung Lesions with Histo-radiological Correlation and Clinical Insights in a Tertiary Care Centre

Background: Carcinoma of lung has now become increasingly frequent during the last 60 years; this increase is seen in males and especially in the females. Cytological evaluation from respiratory tract is the initial investigation along with radiological investigations in patients suspected to have pulmonary diseases. The various cytological samples included transbronchial needle aspiration, guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) smears and pleural fluid. Present study was undertaken to study the spectrum of lesions diagnosed by cytomorphological analysis of various cytological samples and correlation of the histopathology, cytology and radiology of lung lesions. Materials and Methods: Centrifuged and direct smears from received samples were stained with MGG and PAP stain. Cytohistological correlation was done when biopsy was available with radiological correlation & comparison of topographic display. Results: Present study was carried out during the period of December 2018 to November 2019. During this period, of total 52 cases, 36 (69.2%) were males and 16 (30.8%) were females. Their age ranged from 26 years to 73 years, most patients (53.8) belonged to the age group of 56 – 65 years. The literacy status of the patients was assessed. 2 out of 52 (3.8%) patients were illiterate, 8 out of 52 (15.4%) patients were educated above H.S. level. Adenocarcinoma was seen to be the most prevalent 29 (55.7%) followed by squamous cell carcinoma 12 (23.0%) among the cases studied. Smoking was seen to be the most common addiction i.e. 34 out of 52 cases (65.4%). Among non-smokers 66.7% presented with adenocarcinoma and 16.6% cases with squamous cell carcinoma. The topography of the neoplasms within the lungs was assessed radiologically. On chest X ray (82.6%) lung lesions were identified; (48%) of patients were found to have pleural effusion. By using CT SCAN, all masses were located definitely. Conclusion: A good correlation between cytology and histopathology is revealed in our study. Guided FNAC helps in early detection and diagnosis of lung lesions and facilitates appropriate management of patients. Keywords: Lung, Carcinoma, Detection, Diagnosis, Fine needle aspiration, Cytology, Histopathology, Radiology, Correlatio