Tao Enfu, Liang Wei, Gu Hongdan, Zhou Junfen, Zheng Changhua, Yuan Junhui
Department of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Wenling Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Wenling, Zhejiang, China.
Department of Radiology, Wenling Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Wenling, Zhejiang, China.
Front Pediatr. 2025 Aug 14;13:1639498. doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1639498. eCollection 2025.
Adenoid hypertrophy (AH) is prevalent in 35%-70% of the global pediatric population, leading to airway obstruction and sleep disturbances. Current diagnostic criteria for the adenoid-to-nasopharyngeal (/) ratio lack age-specific adjustments, potentially resulting in diagnostic inaccuracies.
This retrospective study assessed pediatric outpatients aged 1-12 years who underwent lateral nasopharyngeal radiography. Measurements of adenoid depth (AD), nasopharyngeal depth (ND), and / ratios were recorded, and age-stratified percentiles (P5-P95) were calculated for four distinct age cohorts. The relationships between AD, ND, and / ratios and age were analyzed. Measurements were conducted by two independent radiologists, with any discrepancies adjudicated by a senior expert.
In this investigation involving 2,629 outpatient children aged between 1 and 12 years, the median AD remained consistent at 14-15 mm, whereas ND increased from 21 to 27 mm, resulting in a decrease in the / ratio from 0.68 to 0.56. Pathological hypertrophy was identified in 42% of children aged 1-3 years, compared to 13.7% in those aged 10-12 years, with no significant sex-based differences observed. Age-specific reference ranges showed that both AD and ND increased with age, whereas the / ratio decreased. A positive correlation was found between AD and both ND and the / ratio, while ND exhibited a negative correlation with the / ratio. Significant discrepancies were noted between age-specific / ratio percentiles and the current fixed diagnostic criteria for children aged 1-12 years. The study established percentile-based reference values (P5-P95) for AD, ND, and the / ratio across four pediatric age groups.
This study established percentile-based reference values (P5-P95) for AD, ND, and the / ratio across four pediatric age groups, thereby recommending age-specific diagnostic thresholds for AH in clinical settings.
腺样体肥大（AH）在全球35%-70%的儿科人群中普遍存在，会导致气道阻塞和睡眠障碍。目前腺样体与鼻咽部（/）比值的诊断标准缺乏针对年龄的调整，可能导致诊断不准确。
这项回顾性研究评估了1至12岁接受鼻咽部侧位X线摄影的儿科门诊患者。记录腺样体深度（AD）、鼻咽部深度（ND）和/比值的测量值，并计算四个不同年龄队列的年龄分层百分位数（P5-P95）。分析AD、ND和/比值与年龄之间的关系。测量由两名独立的放射科医生进行，任何差异由一位资深专家裁决。
在这项涉及2629名1至12岁门诊儿童的调查中，AD中位数保持在14-15毫米，而ND从21毫米增加到27毫米，导致/比值从0.68降至0.56。1至3岁儿童中42%被诊断为病理性肥大，而10至12岁儿童中这一比例为13.7%，未观察到明显的性别差异。特定年龄的参考范围显示，AD和ND均随年龄增加，而/比值下降。AD与ND和/比值均呈正相关，而ND与/比值呈负相关。1至12岁儿童特定年龄的/比值百分位数与当前固定诊断标准之间存在显著差异。该研究建立了四个儿科年龄组AD、ND和/比值基于百分位数的参考值（P5-P95）。
本研究建立了四个儿科年龄组AD、ND和/比值基于百分位数的参考值（P5-P95），从而在临床环境中推荐针对腺样体肥大的特定年龄诊断阈值。
