Oncocytes in the nasopharynx.
A mucosal biopsy specimen taken from the anterior superior part of the nasopharynx revealed the presence of numerous oncocytes. These cells were observed in both the mucosal epithelium and in the submucosal glands. Ultrastructurally, the oncocytes were characterized by vast numbers of closely packed mitochondria, which in some cells had a rarified matrix, and by a paucity of other cytoplasmic organelles. It could not be determined whether these cells represented an early stage in the development of a nasopharyngeal oncocytoma, or whether they were the result of local reactive oncocytic metaplasia.
D003600:Cytosol / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000473:pathology*