Waldeyer's tonsillar ring

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The
specific problem is: see commented-out text in wikisource. Please help
improve this article if you can. (December 2012)
Lymph: Waldeyer's tonsillar ring

Regional lymphatics. Waldeyer ring labeled at center
top.
Latin anulus lymphoideus pharyngis
Waldeyer's tonsillar ring (also pharyngeal lymphoid ring or Waldeyer's lymphatic
ring) is an anatomical term collectively describing the annular arrangement of lymphoid
tissue in the pharynx. Waldeyer's ring circumscribes the naso- and oropharynx, with
some of its tonsillar tissue located above and some below the soft palate (and to the
back of the oral cavity).
Waldeyer's ring was named after the nineteenth century German anatomist Heinrich
Wilhelm Gottfried von Waldeyer-Hartz.
[1]

The ring consists of the (from superior to inferior):
1 (or two
[note 1]
) pharyngeal tonsils (or nasopharyngeal tonsil(s), due to the
location; also known as 'adenoid(s)' when inflamed/swollen
[note 2]
)
2 tubal tonsil (bilaterally, where each Eustachian tube opens into the
nasopharynx)
2 palatine tonsils (commonly called "the tonsils" in the vernacular, less
commonly termed "faucial tonsils"; located in the oropharynx; also see tonsillitis
and tonsillectomy)
1 (or many
[note 3]
) lingual tonsils (on the posterior tongue)
There also normally is a good amount of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)
present between all these tonsils (intertonsillar) around the ring, and more of this
lymphoid tissue can variably be found more or less throughout at least the naso- and
oropharynx.
Some animals, but not humans, have one or two additional tonsils:
Soft palate tonsil