Craniofacial skeleton of 7-year-old children with enlarged adenoids.

In a radiocephalometric study of 7-year-old children, it was found that a diagnostically useful characteristic associated with the presence or past history of enlarged adenoids is a dorsal rotation of the mandibular ramus relative to the palate. This feature may also be common to other obstructions of the nasopharyngeal space. A possible mechanism causing this growth deviation and some methodological problems involved in its detection are discussed.