Unilateral tonsillar actinomycosis masqueranding as a neoplasm.

Abstract

Actinomycosis is an endogenous infection caused by gram positive bacteria with filamentous appearance, of the genus Actinomyces, of which the most common pathogen is Actinomyces israelii. Tonsillar actinomycosis is usually a bilateral feature. Although actinomycosis can be detected in the tonsils comparatively frequently, there are only few reports regarding unilateral tonsillar hypertrophy due to actinomycosis. To our knowledge, only six cases of unilateral tonsillar hypertrophy caused by actinomyces infection have been reported until now. Four of them were masquerading as a tumor, and two as pendulous masses attached to the tonsils. We herein report a case of unilateral actinomycosis masquerading as a tonsillar neoplasm in an 18 year old boy.