Asymetrical symptomatic tonsils- Relationship with malignancy and the clinical accuracy of estimating size

10^th Global Annual Oncologists Meeting

July 11-13, 2016 Cologne, Germany

J Colclough, R Balakumar, T Tatla and N Haloob

Northwick Park Hospital, London

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Cancer Sci Ther

Abstract :

Asymmetrical tonsils raise the concern for possible malignancy although the relationship between the two is unclear. Despite this, current practice for patients with asymptomatic asymmetrical tonsils is tonsillectomy. This retrospective study aims to investigate: 1) The rate of malignancy in patients with asymptomatic asymmetrical tonsils, 2) The clinical accuracy of tonsil size assessment and the potential use of imaging to improve this. We reviewed 50 post-tonsillectomy patients histology ranging from Nov 2015 to Aug 2015 investigating patient demographics, clinical assessment of tonsil asymmetry, histological assessed size and volume of the tonsils and the final diagnosis. Any patients with symptomatic tonsils (such as ulceration) were excluded from the study leaving us with a sample size of 47. The results demonstrated no cases of malignancy, with all post-tonsillectomy patients having benign reactive hyperplasia on histology. Of the tonsils deemed clinically asymmetrical, only 59% were correct histologically. These findings question the current indications for tonsillectomy in asymptomatic asymmetrical patients. Additionally, they demonstrate that clinical examination alone has poor sensitivity for determining tonsil asymmetry. We believe that pre-operative MRI or USS could be beneficial in more accurately assessing tonsil asymmetry.

Biography :

Email: joseph.colclough@nhs.net