Lingual tonsil
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The lingual tonsil lingualis is unpaired, it lies under the multilayered epithelium of the mucous membrane of the root of the tongue, often in the form of two clusters of lymphoid tissue. The border between these clusters on the surface of the tongue is the sagittally oriented median sulcus of the tongue, and in the depth of the organ is the septum of the tongue.
The surface of the tongue over the amygdala is tuberous, the number of elevations (tubercles) is particularly large in adolescence and ranges from 61 to 151. Between the tubercles, whose transverse dimensions do not exceed 3-4 mm, openings of small depressions - crypts, 4 mm. Crypts flow into the ducts of the mucous glands.
The largest lingual tonsil reaches 14-20 years, its length in these years is 18-25 mm, and the width is 18-25 mm. The lingual amygdala of the capsule does not.
The lingual tonsil consists of lymphoid nodules and interstitial lymphoid tissue. The number of nodules (80-90) is greatest in childhood, adolescence and adolescence. Lymphoid nodules are located under the epithelial cover, as well as near the crypt. The maximum size of the nodules is reached to adolescence, their transverse size in this period is 0.5-1.0 mm. In children and adolescents, almost all lymphoid nodules have breeding centers.
Development and age-related changes in the lingual tonsil
The lingual tonsil appears in the fetus on the 6-7th month in the form of single diffuse clumps of lymphoid tissue in the lateral parts of the root of the tongue. At the 8th-9th month of intrauterine life, lymphoid tissue forms denser clusters - lymphoid nodules. At this time, small, irregularly shaped tubercles and folds are found on the surface of the root of the tongue. By the time of birth, the number of lymphoid nodules in the developing tonsil is markedly increasing. Reproduction centers in lymphoid nodules appear soon after birth (at the 14th month of life), their number increases until the youthful age. Infants in the lingual tonsil have about 66 nodules. During the first childhood, their number averages to 85, and in adolescence - 90. The dimensions of the nodules increase to 0.5-1.0 mm. In the elderly, the amount of lymphoid tissue in the lingual tonsil is small, the connective tissue grows in it.
[Vessels and nerves of lingual tonsil
To the lingual almond there are branches of the right and left lingual arteries, and also, in rare cases, branches of the facial artery. Venous blood from the amygdala flows into the lingual vein. Lymph from the lingual tonsil along the lymphatic vessels of the tongue is directed to the regional lymph nodes - lateral deep cervical (internal jugular).
Innervation of the amygdala is carried out by fibers of the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves, as well as sympathetic fibers of the outer carotid plexus.