Background: Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) is raised for its highly nutritional and relatively expensive meat. Aims: This study evaluates selected lymphoid organs of juvenile and peripubertal Chukar partridges using a histomorphometric approach. Methods: Thirty one-day-old male and female Chukar partridges were included in the stu...

The purpose of this investigation was to analyse whether there were any differences between children with and without enlarged tonsils with regard to the posture of the head, the hyoid bone, and the tongue. Twenty-two children with enlarged tonsils were compared with a matched normal control group. Of the children in the tonsil group, 59 per cent were mouth-breathers during the day and 82 per c...

Diseases of the tonsils are becoming more resistant to antibiotics due to the persistence of bacteria through the formation of biofilms. Therefore, understanding the microbiology and pathophysiology of such diseases represent an important step in the management of biofilm-related infections. We have isolated the microorganisms, evaluated their antimicrobial susceptibility, and detected the pres...

OBJECTIVE To study biofilm formation on the epithelial surfaces of tonsils and adenoids in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy (T&A). DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Tertiary academic hospital. PATIENTS Between September 2005 and August 2006, 76 patients (mean [SD] age, 5.7 [3.3] years; age range, 1-18 years; male-female ratio, 1.8:1) undergoing T&A to treat infection, obstruction, o...

OBJECTIVE To assess the clinical implications of asymmetrically enlarged tonsils in children. DESIGN A prospective controlled study of asymmetric tonsil size in children scheduled for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy. Data were recorded on tonsil size and position, tonsillar fossa depth, degree of asymmetry, and pathological findings. Control patients were matched for age, sex, rac...

Tonsils are not just easily accessible lumps of lymphoid tissue to be disposed off. They have useful function in childhood and theft removal may cause problem later due to lack of immunity. There has been great opposition to the surgical treatment of tonsils. According to Calderoli, ‘it is an ugly, barbarous, painful, cruel, repulsive, dangerous and largely useless operation much more so than t...

Innate response activator (IRA) B cells have been described in mice as a subset of B-1a B cells that produce granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and have been found in the spleen upon activation. In humans, identification, tissue localization and functionality of these lymphocytes are poorly understood. We hypothesized that IRA B cells could reside in human palatine tonsil...

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to determine how anatomical conditions of the throat influence the degree and duration of posttonsillectomy transient hypernasality. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 82 tonsillectomies were performed. The participants were divided into groups: 1 – small tonsils, high soft palate position; 4 – large tonsils, low soft palate position, and 2 and 3 – intermediate tonsil d...

In this study, we compared the immune cell populations in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fluid, which shows lymphoid tissue-like structure, with those in tonsils, which are normal secondary lymphoid tissues. Firstly, we found that CD4(-)CD11b(+) macrophages were the major population in RA synovial fluid and that B cells were the major population in tonsils. In addition, synovial fluid from ...

The temporal association of tonsillitis and hematuria or proteinuria in IgA nephropathy suggests that there might be a link between the physiological properties of the secondary lymphoid organ that tonsils represent and the mesangial deposition of IgA characteristic of this nephropathy. A number of clinical and ex-vivo data support this hypothesis. One of the earliest was the demonstration of t...