Correlations between obstructive sleep apnea and adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children of different weight status

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between OSA and adenotonsillar size in children of different weight status. A total of 451 patients aged 2-13 years with suspected OSA were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Correlations between the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and adenotonsillar size in different weight status were investigated. The adenoidal/nasopharyngeal (A/N) ratio of underweight children was significantly higher than that of normal-weight children (P = 0.027). Both adenoid and tonsil size were positively correlated with logAHI in children of normal weight (r = 0.210, P = 0.001; and r = 0.212, P = 0.001) but uncorrelated in the other groups. Gender (OR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.01-2.20, P = 0.043), obese (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.10-3.40, P = 0.012), A/N ratio (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.28-1.88, P < 0.001) and tonsil size (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.18-1.57, P < 0.001) were all associated with the severity of OSA. Adenotonsillar hypertrophy contributed to OSA in normal-weight children. In children of abnormal weight, instead of treatment for adenotonsillar hypertrophy, appropriate treatments for other factors are required.