Search

Tonsilloliths, also known as tonsil stones or tonsillar calculi are clusters of calcified material that form in crypts of palatine tonsil. They are usually of small size. Large or giant tonsilloliths are rare. We report a case of giant tonsillolith in left palatine tonsil and literature is reviewed. Keywords: Tonsillolith, Tonsil stone.

Lymphoid papillary hyperplasia of the tonsils is a rare, benign lesion and is characterized by a papillomatous appearance with reactive follicular hyperplasia. Our case was unique because the lesion involved the unilateral and focal palatine tonsil, as the lesion usually involves the bilateral and entire palatine tonsils.

Lipomas are benign tumors composed of mature fat cells. They occur frequently in subcutaneous tissue but rarely in the upper aerodigestive tract. Tonsillar lipomas are rare. To our knowledge, there are only six documented cases in the English literature. Here, we present the case of a 46-year-old Taiwanese female with a submerged oval yellowish mass in her left palatine tonsil. She received tonsillectomy and the pathologic diagnosis was tonsillar lipoma. The clinical presentation, management and literature review are also presented.

Meningiomas can occur at excranial and extraspinal sites such as the nose, nasopharynx and paranasal sinuses. Meningioma of the tonsil has seldom been described. We report a case of ectopic meningioma of the left palatine tonsil, in a 50-year-old male with no clinical or radiological evidence of an intracranial lesion. Follow-up at six months revealed no evidence of recurrence.

A polypoid, pedunculated tumour of the left palatine tonsil was incidentally detected in a 42-year-old female. It was composed of mature fat and was covered by a nonkeratinizing squamous epithelium with an underlying rim of fibrous tissue. The literature on tonsillar lipoma is reviewed and the differential diagnosis of polypoid lesions of the tonsil is discussed.

A 51-year-old man complained of foreign body feeling in the pharynx 2 months after surgery for lung cancer. The left palatine tonsil was coated with a dirty furlike covering. Biopsy revealed tonsillar metastasis from lung cancer (adeno carcinoma). Intravenous chemotherapy with a total dose of 40 mg of adriamycin and 200mg of cisplatinum reduced the size of the tonsillar tumor temporarily, but patient became cachectic and died after 6 months of treatment. The clinical findings in 10 cases of tonsillar metastasis reported in Japan are reviewed in this paper.