Tonsillar symmetry

Pediatrics for Parents, April, 2002

Ever wonder if it's significant when your child's tonsils are of different sizes? A doctor at Georgetown University Hospital evaluated the appearance and volume of the tonsils from 247 children ages 2 to 18 years old. All the children were scheduled to have their tonsils removed.

Visual examination of the children before surgery found 47 appeared to have asymmetrical tonsils. After removal all the tonsils were measured and their volumes calculated. No significant differences were found in any measurement. No cancers were found in any of the tonsils.

The difference in the children with "asymmetrical" tonsils was the size of their tonsillar fossa--the recess in the side of the mouth where the tonsils are found. In other words, the tonsillar fossa on one side was deeper than the one on the other side. This gave the appearance a size difference in the tonsils

Tonsillar size asymmetry is almost always an optical illusion. If real, then further evaluation is needed to determine the cause.

Archives of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, 7/02.