PAPILLOMATA OF THE 
SOFT PALATE. 
BY 
W. SCHEPPEGEELL, A.M., M. D., 
' NEW ORLEANS, 
Assistant Surgeon to the Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat 
Hospital, etc. 
REPRINTED FROM THE 
Neta York fHetifcal journal 
for April If 1896. Reprinted from the Neu York Medical Journal 
for April 11, 1896. 
PAPILLOMATA OF THE SOFT PALATE* 
By W. SCIIEPPEGRELL, A. M., M. D., 
NEW ORLEANS, 
ASSISTANT SURGEON TO THE EYE, EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT HOSPITAL, ETC. 
Papillomata of the soft palate are found more fre- 
quently than other neoplasms in this region. Their point 
of attachment is, in the majority of cases, the uvula, al- 
though it may be any part of the velum. They are of be- 
nign character, and in the dozen or more cases which I 
have seen they caused little or no irritation, and in many 
cases their existence was unknown to the patients. 
Papillomata of the palate vary in size from an almost 
imperceptible excrescence to a growth three quarters of 
an inch in diameter, as in the case reported by Lefferts 
(Transactions of the American Laryngological Association, 
1889). 
The diagnosis presents but little difficulty, the papilloma 
being recognized by its soft, white, mamillated appearance; 
where there is any doubt as to the nature of the neoplasm, 
the diagnosis can easily be confirmed by the microscope. 
The following case is of interest on account of the com- 
paratively large size of the neoplasm, the length of the 
* Read before the Orleans Parish, La., Medical Society, February 
8, 1896. 
Copyright, 1896, by D. Appleton and Company. 2 
PAPILLOMATA OF THE SOFT PALATE. 
pedicle, and that, notwithstanding this, it not only caused 
no irritation or inconvenience, but the patient was abso- 
lutely unaware of its existence : 
Mr. J. E., of Jackson, Miss., aged twenty one years, called 
at my office to consult me about his ear. Six years ago the 
drum membrane had been accidentally perforated by a piece 
of wood which had been forced into the ear; he was con- 
fined to his bed for six weeks, and the discharge continued 
for three months longer. When he was examined, however, 
the drum was found to be healed, although the cicatrix could 
be seen in the posterior inferior segment. While I was ex- 
amining the throat as a matter of routine, a pediculated tumor 
was seen attached to the soft palate near the uvula, as shown 
Papilloma of the soft palate. 
in the figure. The pedicle was fifteen millimetres in length, 
allowing considerable latitude in the movements of the tumor; 
sometimes in speaking and swallowing it would disappear PAPILLOMATA OF THE SOFT PALATE. 
3 
behind the palate, sometimes hang below the uvula, and occa- 
sionally become fixed between the pillars of the tonsils. 
The tumor was a fiat spheroid about nine millimetres in 
diameter. When I called the attention of the patient to the 
presence of this neoplasm, and showed it to him by means of 
a mirror, he expressed great surprise, never having been 
aware that there was anything abnormal in his throat. 
He called again at my office two weeks afterward, with 
the request that I would remove the growth, which, since he 
had become aware of its existence, had caused him annoy- 
ance. It was easily removed by the cold snare, and two 
weeks later no trace of its existence could be found on the 
palate. 
A microscopic examination confirmed the clinical diag- 
nosis that the tumor was a papilloma. 
In the following case the papilloma was attached to the 
soft palate almost in the same position as in the last case, 
but, in spite of the small size of the tumor (three milli- 
metres) and the shortness of the pedicle, it set up consid- 
erable irritation: 
Edward B., aged eighteen years, white, called at the Eye, 
Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital January 6, 1896, and gave the 
following history : 
For the past two months he had been troubled with an 
irritable cough, which would begin as soon as he went to 
bed, and would sometimes last for an hour or more; he 
realized that it was due to an irritation in his throat, and on 
examining it with a mirror, he found a growth hanging down 
near the uvula. The presence of this growth seemed not to 
inconvenience him in speaking or swallowing, but as soon as 
he went to bed it would irritate his throat and bring on a 
paroxysm of coughing. 
At first sight the growth appeared to be attached to the 
tip of the uvula, but by moving the growth by means of a 
probe, the point of attachment was found higher up on the 
soft palate, the pedicle allowing it to come to the end of the 4 
PAPILLOMATA OF THE SOFT PALATE. 
uvula; the growth presented the appearance of a papilloma 
in this region. After applying a ten-per-cent, solution of co- 
caine, the papilloma was seized by an angular forceps, and 
the pedicle cut with the scissors at the point of attachment 
to the soft palate. Ten days later the patient reported that 
he no longer had any irritation in the throat, or the parox- 
ysms of coughing which had annoyed him for the past two 
months. The New York Medical Journal. 
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