Does adenoid hypertrophy really have effect on tympanometry?

ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to determine the correlation between the radiographic measurements of adenoid size and tympanometric findings.Study designProspective study.SettingHaydarpasa Numune Research and Education Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.Subjects and methodsNine five consecutive children complaining of one or more of the symptoms of upper airway obstruction (UAO) (presence of snoring, mouth breathing or difficulty in breathing during sleep, obstructive breathing or apnea during sleep) were included in the study. Symptom severity was assessed by a standardized questionnaire. All patients underwent digital lateral soft tissue radiographs. Assessment of nasopharyngeal obstruction in radiographs was done according to four different methods. Tympanometry was used to evaluate the middle ear.ResultsOf 190 ears, 79 were type A, 49 were type B and 62 were type C tympanograms. The symptom severity of 14 patients was graded as mild, 56 patients as moderate and 25 patients as severe. There was no statistically significant difference between UAO symptom severity groups and tympanogram types (p > 0,05). Each one of the four methods of radiologic measurements of the adenoid enlargement showed no statistically significant difference between the tympanogram types (p > 0,05).ConclusionThe adenoid hypertrophy in both means of radiologic measurements and symptom severity does not correlate with the changes in tympanograms. These findings do not support the hypothesis that adenoidal size plays a major role in the etiopathogenesis of middle ear effusion (MEE).