T. Tanigawa, Jun-ichi Yamashita, R. Shibata
Jul 1, 2013
Citations
0
Influential Citations
4
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
The American journal of the medical sciences
Abstract
CLINICAL PRESENTATION A 72-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a complaint of a foreign body sensation in his throat. He had also been warned about his bad breath (halitosis) by his friends. We found a yellow hard mass protruding from the crypts of the left palatine tonsil (Figure 1A, white arrow). A computed tomography scan revealed a calcification in the supratonsillar fossa (Figure 1B, white arrow). We diagnosed it as a tonsillolith, and it was safely removed by curettage. The postoperative course was good, and his symptoms including bad breath disappeared immediately. Pathologically, actinomycetes were found surrounding the stone. These bacteria may be a possible cause of halitosis. Because many people tend to worry about halitosis, a tonsillolith should be considered in the differential diagnosis of halitosis.