Throat Plates - Causes and Symptoms

Definition

The plaques in the throat are generally the expression of an infectious process - of viral or bacterial origin - against the mucous lining of the pharynx. This manifestation may appear at any age, but is more common in children and immunosuppressed persons.

The white-yellowish plaques distributed in the back of the throat, on the tonsils, on the soft palate and on the uvula, are often part of the symptomatological picture of tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils), pharyngitis (inflammation of the pharynx) and typical colds of the winter period, such as colds, flu and parainfluenza syndromes. In such contexts, the plaques in the throat may be associated with other symptoms and signs, including difficulty or pain when swallowing, velvet and local redness of the mucosa, possibly combined with the presence of swollen tonsils (pharyngotonsillitis), halitosis and loss of voice. Sometimes, there is also enlargement of the lymph nodes of the neck, fever and ear pain. Pharyngotonsillitis is most often caused by rhinovirus, adenovirus, coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus.

The bacteria most commonly involved in the onset of plaques are beta-hemolytic streptococcus in group A (one of the most common throat-infecting bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus .

The etiological agents that can cause this symptom include Epstein-Barr virus (responsible for mononucleosis). At other times, the infection can be attributed to fungi, such as Candida Albicans . Rather rare causes include diphtheria, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and primary HIV infection.

The presence of purulent exudates in the throat is also associated with peritonsillar abscess and cellulite, acute pharyngeal infections particularly frequent in adolescents and young adults. These conditions represent two aspects of the same pathological process, in which an infection of tonsils and pharynx spreads to the soft tissues. The subjects that suffer from it have a strong monolateral sore throat, dysphagia, fever, otalgia, stomatolalia (spoken that recalls the presence of a hot object in the mouth), sialorrhea, halitosis, deviation of the uvula and cervical adenopathy.

In some cases, with plaques in the throat we refer to tonsil stones, that is small solid concretions with a white-yellowish color with a more or less solid consistency.

Other times, the presence of plaques in the throat is associated with neoplastic processes.