Fine needle aspiration biopsy in the management of children and young adults with peripheral lymphadenopathy

Abstract

To determine the effectiveness of fine needle aspiration (FNA) of the lymph node in the management of young patients with peripheral lymphadenopathy, all patients 30 years of age and under who had a lymph node aspirate and who then had subsequent excisional biopsy, autopsy, or clinical follow-up for a minimum of one year were examined. One hundred twenty-seven aspirates from one hundred twenty-six patients fulfilled the criteria of the study. Diagnoses of eighty-three benign and thirty-seven malignant lymphadenopathies were confirmed. There were three false negative and four false positive diagnoses. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 0.93, 0.95, 0.90, and 0.97%, respectively. Of the one hundred twenty-six patients, twenty-five had a previous history of malignancy. Results of aspiration biopsy in this group were examined to determine FNA ability to predict recurrent disease. In this group the sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were 0.95, 0.80, 0.95, and 0.80 respectively, Finally, the group of patients with clinically suspicious primary lymphadenopathy without an antecedent history of malignancy were examined to determine the effectiveness of the technique for selecting patients for surgical biopsy. This group included a total of one hundred two patients. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 0.93, 0.96, 0.90, and 0.97, respectively. Based on the data from this retrospective study, we conclude that fine needle aspiration provides a useful tool in the management of young patients with peripheral lymphadenopathy, both in monitoring recurrent disease and in triaging patients with clinically suspicious primary lymphadenopathy to determined the next appropriate step in management.