Vol.96 No.7 contents
PRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 96 No.7 July 2003
A Case of Calculus of the Lingual Tonsil
Hideki Bando, Toshiyuki Uno, Fumiaki Nin,
Kou Tei, Takashi Shinomiya and Yasuo Hisa
(Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine)
A 42-year-old woman came to our hospital with a 1-month history of foreign body sensation in the pharynx. Lateral neck radiograph and computed tomography scan showed a calcification in the root of the tongue. We suspected that the object was a foreign body, because her symptom had appeared just after a meal. Extirpation with direct laryngoscope was done under general anesthesia. The location of the object was easily detected with fluoroscopy. Infrared spectrum revealed that it was a calculus of the lingual tonsil. 37 cases of tonsillolith have been reported previously in Japan, but all cases were calculi of the palatine tonsil. This case is the first report to our knowledge of calculus of the lingual tonsil.
Key words : calculus, lingual tonsil, tonsillolith