Effect of upper airway obstruction on pulmonary arterial pressure in children

SummaryObjectiveOur aim was to examine the elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure in children with upper airway obstruction caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy according to their disease severity assessed with symptom scoring and to demonstrate the profit for echocardiographic monitorization of the children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy regardless of their clinical status.MethodsThirty-nine children with a diagnosis of upper airway obstruction caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy were included for the study. There were 16 female and 23 male patients. Ages of the children were between 3 and 10 years with a mean age of 5.78 ± 1.98. Twenty children composed the control group with a similar age and sex distribution but without any sign and symptom of upper airway obstruction. Mean pulmonary arterial pressures were measured by Doppler echocardiography preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. Symptom scores were calculated for each patient in the study group to assess their disease severity. The significances of changes and relations between pressure levels and symptom scores were calculated by statistical package for social sciences (SSPS) computer program in terms of Student's test, χ2-test and Mc Nemar's test.ResultsMean pulmonary arterial pressure were 26.26 ± 5.40 (14–36) preoperatively, 16,61 ± 2.68 (10.15–22.3) postoperatively and 16.54 ± 2.63 (10.5–21.7) in the control group. There were a statistically significant decrease at pressure levels postoperatively and a significant difference from the levels in the control group (Student's t-test, p < 0.01). We found no correlation between the pressure levels and disease severity assessed in terms of symptom scoring.ConclusionThis study showed that upper airway obstruction caused by adenotonsillar hypertrophy causes significant elevation of pulmonary arterial pressures and adenotonsilectomy is an absolute therapeutic method in these children. Every child with adenotonsillar hypertrophy has some probability of having pulmonary hypertension regardless of his or her disease severity. Therefore, performing echocardiographic examination to all children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy is beneficial for assessing the cardiopulmonary status of the patient and may be useful at decision making for adenotonsilectomy.