Prevalence of Tonsilloliths in Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Retrospective CT PNS Study

To determine the prevalence of tonsilloliths in CT PNS (Computed Tomography ParaNasal Sinuses) of patients with and without features of chronic rhinosinusitis. 97 CT PNS of the patients with features of chronic rhinosinusitis were included in the study group, and 124 CT PNS of cases without features of chronic rhinosinusitis were taken as the control group. All 221 CT PNS were then evaluated for the presence of tonsillar calcifications indicative of tonsilloliths and the prevalence of the same in the study and control groups. 97 of the 221 CT PNS evaluated showed features of chronic rhinosinusitis. 60 of these 97 CT PNS showed features of tonsillolith in one or both tonsils. Of these 60 cases, 58 had maxillary sinusitis, and 17 had pansinusitis. Most of the cases had small tonsilloliths (1–3 mm), and only one case had a large tonsillolith (> 6 mm). At the same time, 27 out of the remaining 124 CT PNS without chronic rhinosinusitis showed the presence of tonsilloliths in one or both tonsils. The prevalence of tonsilloliths is significantly higher in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis than in the control group. The presence of tonsilloliths in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis indicates repeated inflammation of the tonsils due to sinusitis. Such chronic inflammation of the mucosa of the pharynx should prompt more aggressive treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis.