Cytological Study of Salivary Gland Lesions along with Histopathological Correlation in a Tertiary Care Centre

Background and aim: This study aimed to analyze the relative frequency and distribution of different salivary gland lesions on Fine needle aspiration cytology, study histopathological correlation, and evaluate the accuracy and efficacy of this procedure in diagnosing the lesions.
Material and methods: A five-year study was performed on salivary gland swellings in a tertiary health care centre. Fine needle aspiration cytology was done, and smears were stained with Leishman, Haematoxylin, and eosin stains. Histopathology was done wherever possible. Cytological and histopathological correlation was done and the results were statistically analyzed.
Results: One hundred cases were studied. Lesions were categorized into non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions. Chronic sialadenitis was the most common non-neoplastic lesion, and Pleomorphic Adenoma was the commonest benign lesion. Malignant lesions reported were Adenoid Cystic carcinoma, Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma, and three cases were interpreted as positive for malignancy.38 cases were available for histopathology, out of which 34 showed a positive correlation. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the present study are 94.74%, 75%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively.
Conclusions: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a rapid, cost-effective, and safe investigation for the primary categorization of salivary gland lesions into inflammatory, benign and malignant lesions. The high diagnostic accuracy and low false positive and false negative diagnosis suggest that it can be used as a first-line diagnostic procedure to evaluate patients with various salivary gland lesions. However, histopathological diagnosis remains the gold standard.