Pores of the palatine tonsillar crypt and pharyngeal tonsillar recess--a scanning electron microscopic study--

The crypt of the palatine tonsil and the recess of the human pharyngeal tonsil were studied using a scanning electron microscope. Many pores, ranging in diameter from 10 to 100 microns, were observed on the luminal surface of the crypts. All of the crypt surface except at the sites of pores was covered by epithelial cells. Non-epithelial round cells, mostly lymphocytes, were exposed directly to the crypt lumen through these pores. In the lumen of palatine tonsillar crypts, numerous round cells were present which evidently pass through these pores from the parenchyma. This finding indicates that the tonsillar parenchyma is directly open to the crypt. Similar findings were obtained in the recess of the pharyngeal tonsil.