title: Mouth breathing in children with learning disorders.
abstract: Given the importance of studying the causes of learning disorders, we designed this case-control study to assess the nasal cavity volume, pharyngeal and palatine tonsils in children with and without learning disabilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of forty-eight children were enrolled in the study: twenty-four coming from the Center for Evaluation and Early Stimulation (CADEP), in which the criterion is the school failure of at least two consecutive years; and twenty-four students with normal learning - which made up the control group. The children were submitted to ENT examination (history, physical examination) and specific tests (acoustic rhinometry, cavum radiography).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that students with learning disabilities have a higher prevalence of pharyngeal tonsil hypertrophy: p < 0.001, and palatine tonsil hypertrophy: p < 0.001. The average volume of the nasal cavities showed no statistically significant association with learning difficulties (p = 0.75).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on this study, we concluded that children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy have more learning difficulties when compared to children without such hypertrophy.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina, PUCRS ATM.
authors.forename: Giovana Serrão
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Fensterseifer
authors.forename: Oswaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Carpes
authors.forename: Luc Louis Maurice
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Weckx
authors.forename: Viviane Feller
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Martha
mesh_terms: D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D009058:Mouth Breathing / Q000209:etiology*; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000473:pathology*; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology*; D023842:Rhinometry, Acoustic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index