Gingival fine needle aspiration cytology in acute leukemia.

Background: Oral findings in acute leukemia (AL) are common and could be the presenting feature of the disease, namely, gingival enlargement, ulceration, bleeding, and infection. Gingival enlargement in AL is either due to leukemic infiltration, or due to reactive hyperplasia. To differentiate between them a biopsy is required, but being highly contraindicated, biopsy has been substituted in this study by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).