Cytohistologic correlation of suspected Cervicofacial Head & Neck Extra-Pulmonary Tuberculosis in children: A retrospective case series
type: CreativeWork
description: Background Tuberculosis (TB), especially extrapulmonary TB, is a difficult diagnosis to make in children due to the paucibacillary nature of paediatric disease and difficulty in obtaining sputum and tissue samples for microbiology confirmation. Lymphadenopathy in children with suspected cervicofacial TB are amenable to FNA or surgery for further cytological and histological assessment. It is therefore important to understand how well the morphologic features (from cytology and histology) correlate with defined reference standards (TB culture and molecular evidence of MTb) for the diagnosis of TB and the reliability of these features. Aim The aim of the study is to determine how well the cytology and histology-made TB diagnoses in children with suspected cervicofacial EPTB correlates with TB culture and MTb PCR results. Materials and methods This is a descriptive retrospective study that involved a re-appraisal of all patients with suspected cervicofacial EPTB who had histology and cytology performed at Red Cross Children's Hospital identified from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Trakcare system over a 5 year period (2012-2017). Following identification of histopathology accession numbers, histopathology reports and slides were retrieved from the archive of the Division of Anatomical Pathology/ National Health Laboratory Service, Red Cross Children's Hospital, Cape Town for evaluation. In addition, results for Genexpert testing and TB culture were identified using the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Trakcare system. In patients that did not have either of the above, MTb PCR testing was performed. Results Data from the reports of 76 children with suspected cervicofacial TB were included in this study. More biopsies were submitted for histology (48) than for cytology (22). Six children had biopsies for both cytology and histology done. Most children had suspected and confirmed TB involvement of the cervical lymph nodes. On histology, the feature…
abstract: Background Tuberculosis (TB), especially extrapulmonary TB, is a difficult diagnosis to make in children due to the paucibacillary nature of paediatric disease and difficulty in obtaining sputum and tissue samples for microbiology confirmation. Lymphadenopathy in children with suspected cervicofacial TB are amenable to FNA or surgery for further cytological and histological assessment. It is therefore important to understand how well the morphologic features (from cytology and histology) correlate with defined reference standards (TB culture and molecular evidence of MTb) for the diagnosis of TB and the reliability of these features. Aim The aim of the study is to determine how well the cytology and histology-made TB diagnoses in children with suspected cervicofacial EPTB correlates with TB culture and MTb PCR results. Materials and methods This is a descriptive retrospective study that involved a re-appraisal of all patients with suspected cervicofacial EPTB who had histology and cytology performed at Red Cross Children's Hospital identified from the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Trakcare system over a 5 year period (2012-2017). Following identification of histopathology accession numbers, histopathology reports and slides were retrieved from the archive of the Division of Anatomical Pathology/ National Health Laboratory Service, Red Cross Children's Hospital, Cape Town for evaluation. In addition, results for Genexpert testing and TB culture were identified using the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) Trakcare system. In patients that did not have either of the above, MTb PCR testing was performed. Results Data from the reports of 76 children with suspected cervicofacial TB were included in this study. More biopsies were submitted for histology (48) than for cytology (22). Six children had biopsies for both cytology and histology done. Most children had suspected and confirmed TB involvement of the cervical lymph nodes. On histology, the feature…
author: Jackson, Christopher
keywords: Anatomical Pathology
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:46Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38021