BACKGROUND: Tonsillectomy in adults (age 18 years and older) is performed for a variety of conditions. The palatine tonsils may harbor @entity189 or @entity706 , and this potentially unanticipated finding may follow routine tonsillectomy in the adult. The ability to preoperatively identify adult tonsillectomy @entity1 at increased risk for @entity5 could sensitize the clinician to this possibility and the potential need for expedited rather than routine tonsillectomy scheduling. METHODS: A retrospective review of 476 consecutive adult @entity1 who underwent tonsillectomy during the last 10 years at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics was undertaken. Proposed risk factors for @entity5 included a prior history of @entity135 , tonsillar asymmetry, palpable firmness or visible lesion in the tonsil, neck mass, unexplained @entity353 , and unexplained constitutional symptoms. These risk factors were correlated with the pathologic diagnosis in the reviewed cases. RESULTS: Of these 476 @entity1 , 25 had malignant tonsil pathology. No @entity1 without risk factors was found to have @entity5 on pathologic evaluation of the tonsils. Of the 25 @entity1 with malignant tonsillar pathology, 23 had two or more risk factors, and 2 @entity1 had one risk factor. Tonsillar asymmetry, found in 20 of the 25 cases, was the risk factor most frequently associated with malignant pathology. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the presence of certain preoperatively identifiable risk factors are associated with the pathologic finding of @entity5 in adult tonsillectomy specimens. Based on these criteria, a model which is predictive of the presence of tonsil @entity5 may be constructed.

Risk factors for XXXX in adult tonsils.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity135 :: ('MESH:D006258', 'Disease') :: ['head and neck cancer'] @entity353 :: ('MESH:D015431', 'Disease') :: ['weight loss'] @entity706 :: ('MESH:D008223', 'Disease') :: ['lymphoma'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tonsillar malignancy', 'malignancy'] @entity189 :: ('MESH:D002277', 'Disease') :: ['carcinoma']
@entity5 :: (MESH:D009369,Disease) :: ['malignancy']
