[Cytological assessment of the nasal mucosa in children with adenoidal hypertrophy. Part I].

Investigation was performed on 68 children (24 girls and 44 boys) aged of 3-14, who was qualified by paediatricians for cytological evaluation of the nasal mucosa. They had undergone treatment for chronic upper respiratory tract infection and had clinical symptoms of the adenoidal hypertrophy. The adenoidal hypertrophy in children was confirmed by x-ray of nasopharynx. Seven children had previously undergone adenoidectomy and 3 had recurrent otitis. In the investigated group of children the majority of cytograms contained high level of neutrophils (> 50% of the total number of cells). Only 2 children showed normal cytogram. Discovery of substantial eosinophilia of the nasal mucosa (11.76% of investigated children) indicates that allergy diagnosis should be performed in children with adenoidal hypertrophy.