Evaluation of guided fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of hepatic lesions

Objectives: To categorize the lesions of liver observed on FNAC into malignant or benign, to correlate the radiological observations with cytology findings and to perform histopathological correlation wherever possible. Material and methods: A total of 150 cases underwent ultrasonography-guided FNAC, in whom lesion/pathology in the liver was suspected and hepatic mass was confirmed on radiological examination with normal prothrombin time. This study was performed on admitted and OPD patients of SRMS IMS, Bareilly from November 2014 to May 2016. Results: Of the total 150 cases, 4 liver aspirates were inadequate for cytological evaluation and were excluded. Most cases (48 cases; 32.87%) were found in the 6th decade. Radiological findings revealed that out of 146 cases, 6(4.10%) were benign and 140(95.9%) were malignant, while cytological examination revealed 13(8.90%) as benign and 133 (90.09%) as malignant. Among malignant cases, 93.2% were metastatic, the commonest being metastatic adenocarcinoma. Correlation between radiodiagnosis and FNAC was evaluated, which revealed a significant change. Sensitivity and specificity of FNAC were 90.00% and 100% respectively. Accuracy of FNAC was observed to be 90.5% when compared with histopathology; however, the latter was available in very small number of cases. Conclusion: Categorisation of liver lesions into malignant or benign can be done on FNAC with high accuracy. Guided FNAC is very useful in diagnosis of different hepatic lesions as the procedure is simple and safe. The results are obtained quickly without serious complications related to the procedure.