EFFECT OF SMALL DOSES OF X-RAYS ON HYPERTROPHIED TONSILS AND OTHER LYMPHOID STRUCTURES OF THE NASOPHARYNX

46 individuals with tonsils both hypertrophied and otherwise pathologically altered and some of whom had in addition adenoid masses and lymphoid deposits posterior to the pillars of the fauces, were given exposures to x-rays. In all but four cases the treatment was followed by marked atrophy of the tonsils and the other lymphoid deposits, attended by an opening and drainage of the tonsillar crypts. As this process progressed the previously enlarged tonsils assumed a smooth and normal appearance and the hemolytic bacteria—streptococci and staphylococci chiefly—which were often present in the affected tonsil disappeared usually within 4 weeks of the treatment.