• Gagandeep Kaur, Amit Dhamija, Jolsana Augustine, Pooja Bakshi, and Kusum Verma.
• Address: Department of Cytopathology, Sir Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi, India.
• Cytojournal. 2013 Jan 1; 10: 19.

BackgroundThe differential diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) and sarcoidosis on fine needle aspiration material is very challenging in tubercular endemic regions. We carried out a pilot study to explore cytomorphologic features of granulomas which could help in differentiation between sarcoidosis and TB. Final diagnoses in these patients were based on clinical, microbiologic and follow-up studies.Materials And MethodsEndobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration smears of 49 consecutive patients with a final cytologic diagnosis of granulomatous lymphadenitis were reviewed. Based on cytologic features two cytologic categories were enunciated and the results were correlated with microbiologic studies and/follow-up of minimum of 6 months.ResultsThe cytologic categories did not correlate with the final clinical outcome of patients.ConclusionsDifferent patterns of granulomas observed in cytology smears do not help distinguish TB from sarcoidosis. The novel non-invasive techniques of mediastinal sampling though help in confirming granulomatous pathology, distinction between these entities and treatment decisions still depend upon correlating cytologic, microbiologic, clinical and radiological data in a large number of cases in tubercular endemic regions.

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