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Correlation of CD 4 counts with the FNAC patterns of tubercular lymphadenitis in patients with HIV: A cross sectional pilot study
Author(s) -
Rao Joseph Sushil,
Kumari S Jaya,
Kini Usha
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
diagnostic cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1097-0339
pISSN - 8755-1039
DOI - 10.1002/dc.23177
Subject(s) - medicine , correlation , cytology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , pathology , gastroenterology , immunology , geometry , mathematics
Background Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of TB lymphadenitis (TBL) in HIV shows four different patterns, which may be reflective of immune status. We hypothesize that the CD 4 counts, a marker of immunologic status, correlates with FNAC morphology of TBL. This study was undertaken to compare the mean CD 4 counts across the different cytology patterns and to correlate the CD 4 counts with FNAC patterns in these patients. Methods Forty newly diagnosed HIV patients with TBL on FNAC (10 in each pattern) were selected by convenient sampling based on inclusion exclusion criteria. The CD 4 counts were obtained in these patients. Its correlation with different FNAC patterns was assessed using SPSS version 16. Results Analysis of covariance showed significant difference in the mean CD 4 counts between all the four patterns [F (374), df (3), P ‐value = 0.000]. Spearman's correlation analysis showed significant correlation of CD 4 counts with the FNAC patterns (correlation coefficient of 0.967; P ‐value of 0.01) with pattern 1 having low CD 4 counts and pattern 4 having high CD 4 counts. Conclusion CD 4 counts show significant correlation with FNAC patterns of TBL in HIV patients. Pattern 1, suggestive of poor immunological response (chiefly necrosis, occasional ill defined granuloma, AFB 3+) had low CD 4 counts, while pattern 4, suggestive of good immunological response (well defined granuloma, no necrosis and AFB 1+), had high CD 4 counts. Thus FNAC patterns may be used to predict the CD 4 counts in HIV patients where CD 4 facilities are not available or vice versa. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2015;43:16–20. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.