Abstract:
Introduction: Soft tissue tumors are very rare. They are diagnosed initially by fine
needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The present study was conducted with the aim to
study the acceptability and diagnostic accuracy of cytodiagnosis in soft tissue lesions, to
evaluate the reliability of cytodiagnosis as compared conventional histological paraffin
section, and to getting information about the rate of prevalence, relative frequency of
various histopathological types of neoplasms and morphological patterns of soft tissue
tumors in our institution..
Objectives: To assess diagnostic accuracy of cytology in soft tissue tumors at Jimma
University Medical College.
Methods: Institutional based Retrospective descriptive study was conducted at Jimma
University Medical College department of pathology from September 2020 GC to July
2024 GC involving 101 eligible reports. Data were collected from medical records and
entered in to excel sheet, then analyzed using SPSS. Data was collected by residents
working at the department and the principal investigator; collected data was checked
and cleaned manually. Descriptive statistics with mean, frequencies and percentages
was used to describe and summarize the quantitative data. Sensitivities and specificities,
positive and negative predictive value of FNAC of soft tissue tumors is determined and
compared with the histopathologic diagnosis.
Result: From September 2020 GC to July 2024 GC, a total of 101 patients, 43 (42.57%)
female and 58 (57.43%) male patients, had open biopsy for soft tissue tumor. Of these,
101 cases only 61 cases were included in comparison of FNAC with open biopsy. The
diagnostic accuracy of FNAC compared to open biopsy is approximately 91.8%.
Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of
FNAC to identify malignant soft tissue tumor was found to be 86.4%, 94.9%, 90.5%
and 92.5% respectively.
Conclusion and recommendation: FNAC plays a crucial role in the initial diagnosis of
soft tissue tumors. Its continued use is recommended, as it provides acceptable
diagnostic accuracy when supported by histopathological confirmation
