2016 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 155-158
We herein report on a case of a giant tonsillolith that necessitated tonsillectomy. A 35-year-old man had had globus pharyngeus for several years. A thumb-sized nontender hard mass was palpable around the upper pole of his right platine tonsil. CT scan revealed a calcified body measuring 9×19 mm in the right tonsil. Under a diagnosis of tonsillolith, we tried to remove the lith under local anesthesia, but failed. He eventually underwent tonsillectomy under general anesthesia. Histopathological diagnosis was chronic tonsillitis, and component analysis showed more than 98% of the lith was calcium phosphate. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. He was discharged 8 days after surgery, and has been free from relapse for a postoperative follow-up period of 11 months. Although small tonsilloliths are not rare, some of them may grow into a huge size with only mild symptoms.
