Abstract :
Introduction: Salivary gland lesions show cytomorphological heterogeneity with many overlapping
features. FNAC is a common preliminary diagnostic tool for evaluation of the lesions of salivary glands.
The main goal of FNAC is for proper initial diagnosis and its further management.
Hypothesis: This was a prospective study conducted over a period of two years from January 2018 to
January 2020. Total 120 patients having salivary gland swellings were included the study. The lesions were
initially assessed by FNAC and subsequently correlated with histopathology wherever possible.
Results: Middle aged females (40-50yrs) were the common cases in the present study with parotid swelling
the most common site. Chronic sialadenitis was the most common non-neoplastic lesion. Pleomorphic
adenoma was the most common benign and mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common malignant
neoplasm. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV)
of FNAC in our study were 77.8%, 98.11%, 87.5 % and 96.3% respectively with a diagnostic accuracy of
95%.
Conclusion: FNAC is an excellent preliminary diagnostic technique for planning the management of
salivary gland lesions. However, due to overlapping cytological features and heterogeneity it should always
be correlated with clinical and radiological findings along with histopathology for a definitive diagnosis.
Keyword :
Salivary gland, Parotid, FNAC, PPV, NPV.