Localized oropharyngeal amyloidosis

Abstract

An otherwise healthy 29-year-old woman presented with a complaint of odynophagia of several months' duration. On examination, she was found to have a broadly based, yellow, exophytic lesion on the right lateral pharyngeal wall. Findings on biopsy were consistent with amyloidosis. The patient underwent tonsillectomy with resection of the oropharyngeal lesion. Final pathology established a diagnosis of nodular non-AL-type amyloidosis. Localized amyloidosis of the oropharynx is exceptionally rare. Additionally, most cases of localized amyloidosis are of the AL type, not the AA (i.e., non-AL) type seen in this patient. © 2011, Vendome Group, LLC.