Pharyngeal tonsil ('lymphoepithelial tissues', 'gut-associated lymphatic tissue' or GALT) (human)

Stain Azan. The solitary pharyngeal tonsil is localized in the pharyngeal fornix and belongs to the so-called Waldeyer's ring of pharyngeal lymphatic tissue. A: The roof of the nasopharynx is covered by a columnar epithelium with faintly light-stained goblet cells (1) and part of a fold shows clefts (2). The proper lamina consists almost of large aggregations of diffuse lymphatic tissue (3) masking the connective tissue compartment (4). At (5) various primary lymphatic follicles are seen, and (*) indicates free cellular debris in the cleft. B: Locally the covering pseudostratified columnar epithelium consists merely of goblet cells (1) and blue-stained structures point to connective tissue elements of the proper lamina (4). A single primary lymphatic follicle (nodule) (5) is located within the diffuse lymphatic tissue (3).