Histopathological examination of tonsillar tissue in 1250 children, Tabriz-Iran

There is not a general protocol strategy about the necessity of routine microscopic examination of tonsillar samples in children. This study was conducted to determine the histopathological characteristic of tonsillar tissue in 1250 children، Tabriz-Iran. This descriptive study was conducted on 1250 children (724 male and 526 female) aged 2-14 years old who underwent tonsillectomy in Tabriz، Iran during 2008-11. Variables including age، sex، clinical diagnosis and surgical indications were recorded. Paraffin blocks were prepared from samples of tonsillectomy and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Histopathologocal results were categorized in four groups: Follicular hyperplasia، follicular hyperplasia with infection، malignancy and normal. None of the children had initial clinical suspicion of tonsil tumor. Patients’ primary complaints were as follows: 92. 5% mouth breathing، 93% nocturnal snoring، 74. 3% recurrent and chronic cold and infections، 56. 4% sore throat، 48. 2% halitosis، 26% nocturnal apnea، 22. 2% dysphasia، and 18. 2% anorexia. Children with tonsillar hypertrophy and obstructive symptoms (57%)، and tonsillar hypertrophy and recurrent infections (42. 2%) underwent tonsillectomy. In the histopathlogical examination of all patients being hyperplasia together with lymphoid hypertrophy were observed and there was no evidence of malignancy in any of the patients. No instance of malignancy was found in the histopathological examination of children’s tonsil-removed tissues and all of the tonsils had benign hyperplasia with lymphoid hypertrophy.