ORIGINAL ARTICLE Palatine tonsil volume estimation using different methods after tonsillectomy Ays ¸e Sag ˘ ırog ˘lu 1 • Niyazi Acer 1 • Hacı Okuducu 2 • Tolga Ertekin 1 • Mustafa Erkan 3 • Esra Durmaz 4 • Mesut Aydın 5 • Seher Yılmaz 1 • Go ¨kmen Zararsız 6 Received: 9 March 2016 / Accepted: 26 May 2016 Ó Japanese Association of Anatomists 2016 Abstract This study was carried out to measure the vol- ume of the palatine tonsil in otorhinolaryngology outpa- tients with complaints of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and chronic tonsillitis who had undergone tonsillectomy. To date, no study has investigated palatine tonsil volume using different methods and compared with subjective tonsil size in the literature. For this purpose, we used three different methods to measure palatine tonsil volume. The correlation of each parameter with tonsil size was assessed. After tonsillectomy, palatine tonsil volume was measured by Archimedes, Cavalieri and Ellipsoid methods. Mean right– left palatine tonsil volumes were calculated as 2.63 ± 1.34 cm 3 and 2.72 ± 1.51 cm 3 by the Archimedes method, 3.51 ± 1.48 cm 3 and 3.37 ± 1.36 cm 3 by the Cavalieri method, and 2.22 ± 1.22 cm 3 and 2.29 ± 1.42 cm 3 by the Ellipsoid method, respectively. Excellent agreement was found among the three methods of measuring volumetric techniques according to Bland– Altman plots. In addition, tonsil grade was correlated sig- nificantly with tonsil volume. Keywords Palatine tonsil Á Grade Á Volume Á Tonsillectomy Introduction Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical opera- tions in otorhinolaryngology (Cahali et al. 2011). It can be performed in both children and adults. Tonsillectomy is often used to remove airway obstruction in patients, especially in children (Davoodreza 2011). The main indi- cations for this surgical operation are recurrent tonsillitis, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and palatine tonsils asym- metry with suspected malignancy (Ballin et al. 2011). Many authors support the opinion that enlarged tonsils & Ays ¸e Sag ˘ ırog ˘lu sagirogluayse@yahoo.com Niyazi Acer acerniyazi@yahoo.com Hacı Okuducu drhaciokuducu@hotmail.com Tolga Ertekin tolga.ertekin@yahoo.com Mustafa Erkan erkanm@erciyes.edu.tr Esra Durmaz esrakbb2@hotmail.com Mesut Aydın drmesutaydin@yahoo.com Seher Yılmaz sehery38@hotmail.com Go ¨kmen Zararsız gokmenzararsiz@hotmail.com 1 Department of Anatomy, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri 38039, Turkey 2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Maya Eye and Ear, Nose, Throat Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey 3 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Erciyes University, Faculty of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey 4 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Konya Numune Hospital, Konya, Turkey 5 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kayseri Education and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey 6 Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey 123 Anat Sci Int DOI 10.1007/s12565-016-0350-1