Prevalence of palatine tonsilloliths: a retrospective study on 150 consecutive CT examinations.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the prevalence of palatine tonsilloliths.

METHODS

150 consecutive CT examinations (75 males and 75 females) were read.

RESULTS

Tonsilloliths were found in 37 patients (24.6%; confidence interval 17.7-31.6%), of which 18 (48%) had a bilateral location. No influence of sex or age was observed (p = 0.37 and p = 0.57, respectively). 26 patients (70%) had more than 1 concretion. The largest tonsillolith was 7 mm. None of the tonsilloliths found were involved in the reason for prescribing the CT. The radiographic density of the tonsilloliths was between 216 and 2959 HU.

CONCLUSIONS

Palatine tonsilloliths could affect approximately one-quarter of the population. This prevalence is likely to be underestimated in daily clinical practice because small concretions do not result in any functional impairment and are not visible on orthopantomographs.