Clinical analyses of focus tonsil and related diseases in Japan.

Clinical analyses were performed in groups of patients with several diseases that are regarded as diseases of focus tonsils. These patients underwent tonsillectomy from 1981 to 1993 in our department. They included 289 cases of pustulosis palmaris et plantaris (PPP), 35 cases of psoriasis vulgaris (PV), 100 cases of sternocostoclavicular hyperosteosis (SCCH), and 18 cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tonsillectomy was found to significantly alleviate clinical symptoms of the above diseases as follows: 88.1% of the PPP cases, 48.6% of the PV cases, 80.9% of the SCCH cases, and 66.7% of the RA cases. Age distribution of the patients, relation between the effect of tonsillectomy and age, sex and other factors were also analyzed.