Value of ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration cytology in the investigative sequence of hepatic lesions with an emphasis on hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: The evaluation and management of various hepatic lesions is a common clinical problem and their appropriate clinical management depends on accurate diagnoses. AIMS: To study the cytomorphological features of distinctive non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the liver and to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography (USG)-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of liver diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-two patients with evidence of liver diseases underwent USG-guided, percutaneous FNAC. Cytomorphological diagnoses were correlated with clinical, biochemical and radiological findings, histopathological diagnoses and follow-up information. RESULTS: The age of the patients ranged from eight months to 90 years with 48 males (66.67%) and 24 females (33.33%). Of the 72 cases, the cytological diagnosis was rendered in 71 patients and smears were inadequate for interpretation in one case. Neoplastic lesions (68.06%) were more common than non-neoplastic lesions (30.56%). The majority of the neoplastic lesions were hepatocellular carcinomas (36.12%) followed by metastatic adenocarcinomas (19.45%). Among non-neoplastic lesions, cirrhosis was the commonest lesion (8.34%). The overall diagnostic accuracy of FNAC was 97.82% with a sensitivity and specificity of 96.87 and 100% respectively. CONCLUSION: USG-guided FNAC of the liver is a safe, simple, cost-effective and accurate method for cytological diagnosis of hepatic diffuse, focal/nodular and cystic lesions with good sensitivity and specificity.