Publication:

Spectrum of ocular lesions in a tertiary care centre: a five year retrospective study

Background FNAC has been playing an important role in the diagnosis of ophthalmic lesions. Being a quick and cost effective method, FNAC aids in the diagnosis of non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions that warrant immediate medical or surgical intervention. However, there is a paucity of studies in this regard. The aim of our study is to analyze the cytological spectrum of ocular lesions followed by subsequent histopathological examination.

Methods The study was conducted over a period of 5 years. FNAC was done on patients clinically presenting with ocular lesions. Cytological findings were retrospectively correlated with histopathological diagnosis.

Results A total 63 cases of ophthalmic lesions were analysed. Of these, 36 were males and 27 were females. The age of patients ranged from 3 to 75 years. The cases were categorised according to location and into benign (58.73%) and malignant cases (41.27%). Histopathological diagnosis was available in 58 cases. The commonest benign lesion was chalazion (9 cases). The commonest benign lid tumour was hemangioma (5 cases) while commonest malignant lid tumour was basal cell carcinoma (4 cases) followed by squamous cell carcinoma and sebaceous gland carcinoma (3 cases each). Retinoblastoma was the most common intra-ocular tumour of childhood (<2 years). Adenoid cystic carcinoma was the commonest malignancy of lacrimal gland while pleomorphic adenoma was the commonest benign neoplasm.

Conclusions This study showed that FNAC is a reliable, sensitive and specific tool for diagnosing ocular lesions. Hence, it may be used as a first line of investigation in the evaluation of ophthalmic pathology.