COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION AND CELL BLOCK TECHNIQUE IN SALIVARY GLAND LESIONS

Salivary gland lesions are relatively uncommon in head and neck region. Neoplasms of salivary glands are rare and have diverse histomorphological features in individual lesions and complex classifications. Differentiation of benign from malignant tumours makes these neoplasms diagnostically challenging. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a widely accepted diagnostic tool, due to the superficial location and easy accessibility of salivary glands. The Cell block(CB) technique is simple, reproducible and safe which retrieves small tissue fragments that are processed to form a paraffin block. Hence, the present study was undertaken to emphasize the role of combined approach of FNAC and CB technique in diagnosing salivary gland lesions. FNAC of 104 cases was done with CB’s prepared from 99 cases and histopathological correlation was done in 34 cases.  The sensitivity of FNAC and CB was 77.77% and 88.88% respectively while the combined sensitivity of FNAC and CB together increased to 100%. Thus, the combined use of both the techniques increases the diagnostic accuracy and helps the clinician in appropriate management of the patient.