DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjams.2025.v13i07.001

Pages: 1342-1348

Background: Salivary gland lesions encompass a wide spectrum of non-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions arising from major and minor salivary glands. Due to overlapping clinical features, preoperative diagnosis is challenging yet crucial. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) is widely used as a preliminary diagnostic tool, but its accuracy must be validated against histopathology, the gold standard. Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of FNAC in salivary gland lesions by comparing cytological findings with final histopathological diagnoses. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Dhaka Cantonment, from January 2014 to September 2015. A total of 55 cases were selected based on available FNAC and histopathology results. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 11, and diagnostic correlation metrics such as true positive (TP), true negative (TN), false positive (FP), and false negative (FN) were calculated. Results: The majority of patients were aged 20–29 years, and the male-to-female ratio was 1.62:1. Of 55 cases, 42 were diagnosed as benign by FNAC, with 41 confirmed histologically (TN) and one case found malignant (FN). Among 13 FNAC-diagnosed malignant cases, 12 were histologically confirmed (TP) and one was benign (FP). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most common malignancy. Concordance was observed in all cases of pleomorphic adenoma, Warthin tumor, benign cystic lesions, tuberculosis, and abscesses. Discordance was noted in 3 cases, highlighting FNAC limitations, particularly in differentiating between mucoepidermoid carcinoma and pleomorphic adenoma. Conclusion: FNAC proved to be a highly effective, minimally invasive, and cost-efficient diagnostic tool for evaluating salivary gland lesions. It demonstrated high concordance with histopathology, particularly in benign lesions. However, diagno