Introduction: Assessment of a child with lymphadenopathy is a common clinical consequence for the pediatricians. They are considered enlarged when their diameter transcends 1cm for cervical and axillary nodes and more than 1.5 cm for inguinal nodes.

Method and Material: This prospective study was carried out over a period of one year in the department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Jammu, India. All pediatric cases (up to 17 years) with palpable lymph nodes attending the cytology section of the department were included.The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of FNAC in the diagnosis of pediatric lymphadenopathy and to study diverse cytomorpho­logical patterns and their incidence in lymph node aspirates.

Results: A total of 129 cases were studied. The age range we included was 0-17 years. Majority of the patients with lymphadenopathy were in the age group of 6-10 years 52%. The male to female ratio was found to be 3:1. The most common group of lymph nodes involved was cervical group 94%. Sixty-seven cases presented with multiple lymph node enlargement. Non neoplastic group of lesions dominated the study, most common diagnosis was non specific reactive lymphadenitis with 60.5% cases.Among the neoplastic lesions one case each of Hodgkin lymphoma, non Hodgkin lymphoma and metastatic tumour were seen over the study period.

Conclusion: The FNAC is a cost effective diagnostic procedure to diagnose majority of cases. This helps in avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures and associated complications.

Keywords: Childern, Lymph node, Peadriatics, Reactive.

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Dr Ritu Bhagat

Department of Pathology, Government Medical College, Jammu, J&K, India