Abstract:

Objective   To investigate the diagnosis,differential diagnosis, cause of clinical and pathological misdiagnosis of primary malignant tumor of the tonsil and measures against the misdiagnosis. Methods   24 cases with malignant tumor of the palatine tonsil from 2000 to 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. Results   Pathological types of the malignancy consisted of 8  squamous cell carcinoma(SCC),  15 non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma (NHL, including 10 cases from B-cell and 5 cases from T-cell), and 1 Hodgkin′s lymphoma (HL). Delayed diagnosis was reached in 8 patients(33.33%).  Conclusion   Patients with primary malignant tumor of  the tonsil lack characteristic clinical symptoms. Pathological manifestation is complicated. It is important to perform early biopsy followed by immunohistochemical tests. The main causes of misdiagnosis are nonspecific clinical symptoms and doctors′ lack of awareness. Timely biopsy and detailed history/physical examination are helpful to reduce the misdiagnosis, as well as tonsillectomy.

Key words: Tonsil; Malignant neoplasm; Diagnosis; Misdiagnosis; Differential diagnois