A comparative analysis of fine-needle capillary cytology vs. fine-needle aspiration cytology in superficial lymph node lesions.

Fine-needle capillary cytology (FNCC) has been attempted in various organs and studies have shown this procedure to yield qualitatively superior material compared with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Studies evaluating the efficacy of this technique in lymph nodes are rare. The present study has attempted to assess the relative advantages and disadvantages of the FNCC technique in comparison to the more widely applied FNAC technique.Thirty enlarged lymph nodes from 26 patients were sampled by both the FNCC and FNAC techniques. The smears obtained were routinely stained by May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) and Papanicolaou staining. The quality of smears was evaluated using an objective scoring system originally devised by Mair et al., for various organs. The score of individual parameters in each case as well as the total scores for FNAC and FNCC procedures were calculated separately and Mann-Whitney's test was performed; a P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Statistical results showed smears obtained by FNCC to be qualitatively better than those obtained by FNAC. Though, individual parameters were not statistically significant, FNCC smears showed better scores as compared with those of FNA smears. Also, the technique was found to be easier to perform and less apprehensive to the patient.Our study convincingly proved the technical superiority of the FNCC technique in cellular lymph node lesions, emphasizing the need for this less publicized procedure to be more widely applied.