title: Greater auricular nerve masquerading as lymph node.
abstract: Hansen's disease is on the verge of being eliminated from India and often missed by clinicians due to low index of suspicion. We present an unusual case in which greater auricular nerve thickening masqueraded as enlarged lymph node in the neck. The patient was referred for fine needle aspiration cytology, which revealed epithelioid cell granulomas suggestive of Hansen's disease. Further clinical examination and investigations including the skin biopsy confirmed the disease, highlighting the role of pathologist in the management of such unusual presentation of a common disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Shilpi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Prabal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deb
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Vijay Shrawan
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Nijhawan
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Veena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kharayat
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Verma
keywords: Epithelioid cell granuloma; Hansen's disease; fine needle aspiration cytology; greater auricular nerve