First University Department of Pediatrics, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Pediatric Pulmonology Clinic, University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
Pediatr Pulmonol. 2009 Dec;44(12):1216-22. doi: 10.1002/ppul.21126.
Few investigations have assessed tonsillar size in children of variable age, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) status and degree of adiposity. This study evaluated the size of tonsils in young and older, lean and obese children, without or with snoring.
Children attending the Emergency Department or Pulmonology Clinic were recruited and tonsillar size was scored 1-4. Snoring >or=1 night/week was considered diagnostic of SDB and body mass index z-score >or=1.645 was defined as obesity. Age was analyzed as dichotomous variable (<or=7 years old vs. >7 years old).
362 children (2-14 years old) were recruited; 78 (21.5%) were obese and 108 (29.8%) had SDB. SDB-but not age or obesity-was significantly related to tonsillar size (P = 0.001). There was not enough evidence to support the presence of interactions between SDB and age or obesity regarding the size of tonsils (P = 0.157 and P = 0.978, respectively). Young subjects without SDB had larger tonsils than older subjects without SDB (1.9 +/- 0.7 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.8; P = 0.017), whereas age did not affect tonsillar size in children with SDB (P = 0.78).
Young and older children with SDB have similar tonsillar size. In contrast, older subjects without snoring have smaller tonsils than young subjects without snoring. Tonsillar enlargement in children with SDB probably occurs in early childhood without change in older age.
很少有研究评估过不同年龄、睡眠呼吸障碍（SDB）状态和肥胖程度的儿童的扁桃体大小。本研究评估了无鼾或鼾症的年轻和年长、瘦和肥胖儿童的扁桃体大小。
招募了在急诊室或肺病科诊所就诊的儿童，并对扁桃体大小进行 1-4 分评分。每周打鼾≥1 次被认为是 SDB 的诊断标准，体重指数 z 分数≥1.645 定义为肥胖。年龄分析为二分类变量（≤7 岁与＞7 岁）。
共纳入 362 名（2-14 岁）儿童；78 名（21.5%）肥胖，108 名（29.8%）有 SDB。SDB-而非年龄或肥胖-与扁桃体大小显著相关（P=0.001）。没有足够的证据支持 SDB 与年龄或肥胖之间存在相互作用，从而影响扁桃体大小（P=0.157 和 P=0.978）。无 SDB 的年轻组扁桃体比无 SDB 的年长组大（1.9±0.7 与 1.7±0.8；P=0.017），而 SDB 患儿的年龄并不影响扁桃体大小（P=0.78）。
有 SDB 的年轻和年长儿童扁桃体大小相似。相比之下，无鼾的年长儿童的扁桃体比无鼾的年轻儿童小。SDB 患儿的扁桃体增大可能发生在儿童早期，而在年长时无变化。
