Structure and Function
The tonsils are the major component of the Waldeyer ring of pharyngeal lymphoid tissues.
They are a pair of soft tissue masses located at the pharynx.
They are covered by variable epithelial surfaces that have deep, branching depressions called crypts.
Fused lymphatic nodules lie adjacent to the crypts, and germinal centers are prominent.
A pseudocapsule of condensed connective tissue surrounds the tonsils, and septae within the structures form lobulations.
Each tonsil is composed of tissue similar to lymph nodes, covered by pink mucosa (like on the adjacent mouth lining). Running through the mucosa of each tonsil are pits, called crypts.
Together with the other lymphoid tissues of the Waldeyer ring, the tonsils provide the initial barrier to pathogens entering the oral pharynx.