title: The role of adenoids in pediatric rhinosinusitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate adenoids' importance in pediatric rhinosinusitis as a cause of mechanical blockage or as a reservoir for pathogenic bacteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data was performed, which included 410 children under the age of 14 who underwent adenoidectomy in the study. Adenoid bacteriology was evaluated with adenoid tissue culture, and sinusitis grade and adenoid size were determined using preoperative PNS X-ray. A potential correlation between these factors was then analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall adenoid bacteria isolation rate was 79.3%. The most common bacteria were Haemophilus influenza (28.5%), Streptococcus pneumonia (21.7%), Streptococcus pyogenes (21.0%), and Staphylococcus aureus (15.6%), and bacterial isolation rate increased significantly according to sinusitis grade (p=0.000). This was especially true of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumonia, whose isolation rates increased significantly (p=0.011, p=0.001 each). There was no statistically significant difference in sinusitis grade or bacterial isolation rate according to adenoid size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on these results, adenoids contain many potentially pathogenic bacteria. We suggest that in pediatric rhinosinusitis, adenoids act as a reservoir for pathogenic bacteria rather than as a barrier causing mechanical obstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Haengdang-dong 17, Sungdong-gu, Seoul 133-792, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Seok Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Kyung Rae
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tae
authors.forename: Seung Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chul Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin Hyeok
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jeong
mesh_terms: D000233:Adenoidectomy; D000234:Adenoids / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000145:classification*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000145:classification*