{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T09:19:02Z","timestamp":1766999942015,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":11,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766966400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Reports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Clinical Significance: Lymphoepithelial cysts are uncommon benign lesions of the head and neck, rarely encountered within the oral cavity and exceedingly infrequent in the palatine tonsils. Their nonspecific clinical presentation and ability to mimic more common benign entities often render diagnosis challenging. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 68-year-old woman with a four-year history of persistent foreign-body sensation in the oropharynx despite multiple normal otolaryngologic examinations. Flexible nasoendoscopy was non-diagnostic, as the lesion was deeply concealed within the superior tonsillar pole between the palatine pillars. Targeted tonsillar manipulation ultimately revealed a small pedunculated mass and contrast-enhanced computed tomography demonstrated a well-circumscribed, non-enhancing cystic lesion confined to the tonsillar parenchyma. Surgical excision under general anesthesia confirmed an oral lymphoepithelial cyst on histopathologic analysis. The patient remained asymptomatic with no recurrence at four months. Conclusions: This case underscores the rarity of tonsillar lymphoepithelial cysts, highlights the diagnostic limitations of endoscopic evaluation for cryptic superior-pole lesions and emphasizes the importance of meticulous dynamic oropharyngeal examination. Complete surgical excision is both definitive and curative, with an excellent prognosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/reports9010011","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T08:47:27Z","timestamp":1766998047000},"page":"11","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Lymphoepithelial Cyst \u201cEn Crypto\u201d: A Case Report of a Rare Localization in the Superior Pole of the Palatine Tonsil"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8830-4089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Constantinos","family":"Papadopoulos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT Surgery, General Hospital of Drama, 66100 Drama, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8135-1149","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantina","family":"Dinaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT Surgery, General Hospital of Mytilene Vostaneio, 81132 Lesvos, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6785-9176","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anastasia","family":"Sarafidou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT Surgery, St. Luke\u2019s Hospital, 55236 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Peponi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of ENT Surgery, General Hospital of Drama, 66100 Drama, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7963-9462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafail","family":"Ioannidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, General Hospital of Drama, 66100 Drama, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"e1035","article-title":"Oral lymphoepithelial cyst: A clinicopathological study of 26 cases and review of the literature","volume":"9","author":"Sykara","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Clin. Exp. Dent."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"448","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tripleo.2011.02.051","article-title":"Clinical analysis of 120 cases of intraoral lymphoepithelial cyst","volume":"113","author":"Yang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Oral Surg. Oral Med. Oral Pathol. Oral Radiol."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"e76797","article-title":"A rare case of multiple bilateral lymphoepithelial cysts of palatine tonsils","volume":"17","author":"Shah","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e29246","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000029246","article-title":"Lymphoepithelial cyst in the palatine tonsil: A case report and literature review","volume":"101","author":"Moon","year":"2022","journal-title":"Medicine"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"5046002","article-title":"Lymphoepithelial cyst in the palatine tonsil","volume":"2016","author":"Alkan","year":"2016","journal-title":"Case Rep. Otolaryngol."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"4264","article-title":"A rare occurrence of lymphoepithelial cyst in the palatine tonsil: A case report and discussion of the etiopathogenesis","volume":"8","author":"Castro","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Clin. Exp. Pathol."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1007\/s12105-021-01352-2","article-title":"Oral lymphoepithelial cyst: A collaborative clinicopathologic study of 132 cases from Brazil","volume":"16","author":"Cunha","year":"2022","journal-title":"Head Neck Pathol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1159\/000525144","article-title":"Head and Neck Cystic Lesions: A Cytology Review of Common and Uncommon Entities","volume":"66","author":"Pedro","year":"2022","journal-title":"Acta Cytol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4","DOI":"10.11604\/pamj.2019.34.4.18193","article-title":"Epidermoid cyst of the tonsil: A rare finding","volume":"34","author":"Bouatay","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pan Afr. Med. J."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1034\/j.1600-051x.2001.028002137.x","article-title":"Classifications of oral lesions in HIV infection","volume":"28","author":"Narani","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Clin. Periodontol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"bcr2017221869","DOI":"10.1136\/bcr-2017-221869","article-title":"HIV-associated benign lymphoepithelial cysts of the parotid glands confirmed by HIV-1 p24 antigen immunostaining","volume":"2017","author":"Sekikawa","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMJ Case Rep."}],"container-title":["Reports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2571-841X\/9\/1\/11\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T09:15:32Z","timestamp":1766999732000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2571-841X\/9\/1\/11"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]]},"references-count":11,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3]]}},"alternative-id":["reports9010011"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/reports9010011","relation":{},"ISSN":["2571-841X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2571-841X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]]}}}