Brandtzaeg P
Laboratory for Immunohistochemistry and Immunopathology (LIIPAT), University of Oslo, National Hospital, Norway.
Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1988;454:64-9. doi: 10.3109/00016488809125007.
Inflammatory conditions continuing after the age of about 10 years usually seem to accelerate the aging process of palatine tonsils (PT). However, recurrent tonsillitis (RT) may significantly change the immunological competence of PT even before that age. The observed alterations may be irreversible since they were revealed in periods when the patients had been without inflammatory symptoms for at least 4 weeks. Altered immunological function may in fact contribute to recurrence of RT and a vicious circle may thereby develop. Nevertheless, considerable immunological activity persists in diseased tonsils so the functional changes cannot by themselves justify surgical removal of these organs.
大约10岁以后持续存在的炎症状况似乎通常会加速腭扁桃体（PT）的衰老过程。然而，复发性扁桃体炎（RT）甚至在该年龄之前就可能显著改变PT的免疫能力。观察到的这些改变可能是不可逆的，因为它们是在患者至少4周没有炎症症状的时期被发现的。事实上，免疫功能改变可能会导致RT复发，从而形成恶性循环。然而，患病扁桃体中仍存在相当程度的免疫活性，因此功能改变本身并不能成为切除这些器官的手术依据。
