Outpatient Biopsies of the Palatine Tonsil: Access to Lymphoid Tissue for Assessment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus RNA Titers

Abstract

Sufficient tonsillar tissue can be obtained in an outpatient clinic setting to quantitate lymphoid HIV titers by the new branched-DNA signal amplification method with relative ease and without complication. The biopsy method described here affords ready access to the lymphoreticular system, which may help to advance our understanding of the pathogenesis of myriad immune diseases without the need for excisional node biopsies.