title: Role of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in children.
abstract: To evaluate the combination of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCI) in the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in children, we reviewed a total of 71 FNA specimens from pediatric patients with persistent lymphadenopathy. Two cases were deemed inadequate. In the remaining 69 cases, 54 (78%) were diagnosed as benign lesions, 9 (13%) as Hodgkin's lymphoma, 4 (6%) as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or leukemic infiltrate, and 2 as metastatic tumors. Of the 69 cases, 25 cases (38%) were diagnosed based on cytomorphology alone, 30 (43%) by combined cytomorphology and FCI, and 19 (28%) by surgical biopsy. In conclusion, FNA is an easy, safe, and reliable procedure in the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy in children. In difficult cases, FCI can be used to exclude non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Long Island Campus for the Elbert Einstein College of Medicine, New Hyde Park, New York 11040, USA. yuchenj@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Pratima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Savargaonkar
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wasserman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results