Immunopathological alterations in tonsillar disease.

Inflammatory conditions continuing after the age of about 10 years usually seem to accelerate the aging process of palatine tonsils (PT). However, recurrent tonsillitis (RT) may significantly change the immunological competence of PT even before that age. The observed alterations may be irreversible since they were revealed in periods when the patients had been without inflammatory symptoms for at least 4 weeks. Altered immunological function may in fact contribute to recurrence of RT and a vicious circle may thereby develop. Nevertheless, considerable immunological activity persists in diseased tonsils so the functional changes cannot by themselves justify surgical removal of these organs.