Background: The lymph nodes are an essential part of the body's immune system and as such are affected in many infections, autoimmune, metabolic and malignant diseases. The cervical region lymph nodes are particularly important because they are the first drainage site from key point of contact (mouth/eyes/ears/respiratory system) and can represent an early clinical sign in their exposed position on a child's slim neck. Aims and Objectives: a) To evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration cytology in cervical lymphadenopathy in pediatric age group. b) To study the cytopathological profile of children from Rural India (Hapur) in cervical lymphadenopathy. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted from February 2015 to June 2016. Fine Needle Aspiration Diagnosis was correlated with detail of relevant clinical findings and investigation. A total of 150 patients were subjected to FNAC of cervical lymph node lesions. FNAC was performed using 22/ 23 gauge needle attached to 10 ml plastic disposable syringe. Results: In this study 150 patients were subjected to FNAC for cervical lymphadenopathy. The male: female ratio in this study was 1.21:1, with a slight male preponderance. Maximum number of patients were in the 13 – 18 years age group (59 cases, 39.33%) followed by the age group 1 month – 6 years (46 cases, 30.67%) age group. Conclusion: Our study concluded that FNAC is simple, quick, minimally invasive, and inexpensive technique to diagnose cervical lymphadenopathy. It can differentiate a neoplastic from a nonneoplastic process and therefore influence patient management preventing patient from being subjected to unnecessary surgery.
