A retrospective analysis of adenoidal size in children with allergic rhinitis and nonallergic idiopathic rhinitis.

Background: Increased incidence of adenoidal tissue enlargement in children with allergic rhinitis (AR) when compared to non-atopic children had been reported. However, data with respect to the comparison of adenoidal size in children with AR and non-allergic idiopathic rhinitis (IR) is still lacking in the literature.

Objective: We aimed to compare the size of the adenoid in children with AR and with nonallergic IR.

Methods: Adenoid/nasopharynx ratios (ANR) of all children were calculated in both AR and IR patients and the mean ratios were compared.

Results: There were 52 patients in the AR group and 56 patients in the nonallergic IR group. Demographic data were similar within the two groups. The mean ANR was 0.59 +/- 0.08 in AR group, whereas it was 0.77 +/- 0.12 in nonallergic IR group. The ANR was very significantly high in the nonallergic IR patients (p = 0.0001).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that there could be a cellular immune deficiency in allergic children which effects the enlargement of the pharyngeal tonsils. This might be explained with the hypothesis that allergic patients have a deficiency in T-helper 1 cell activity and interferon-gamma production. Larger studies which compare the cytokine profiles of children with AR and with nonallergic IR, will clarify the role of recurrent respiratory infection which is a real problem in clinical practice with allergy.