title: The most important throat-related symptoms suggestive of chronic tonsillitis as the main indication for adult tonsillectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The literature lacks data about the evaluation of throat-related symptoms proving chronic tonsillitis as the most common indication for adult tonsillectomy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the most important throat-related symptoms suggestive of chronic tonsillitis in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study was carried out. The analysis of throat-related symptoms (complaints, tonsillitis rate, pharyngeal signs, and antistreptolysin-O titer) in 81 adults with histologically confirmed chronic tonsillitis was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recurrent tonsillitis was the most common complaint (74.1%). The mean number of tonsillitis episodes was 3.6 (SD, 1.9) times per year. There were no significant differences comparing the frequencies of all the analyzed pharyngeal signs (P>0.05). The antistreptolysin-O titer (mean, 279.8; SD, 211.6 UL) was pathological in 33.3% of patients. The study identified the most important throat-related symptoms revealing chronic tonsillitis: tonsillar cryptic debris (OR, 8.84; 95% CI, 1.93-40.53; P=0.005) and enlarged anterior cervical lymph nodes along with the frequency of tonsillitis episodes exceeding 3 times per year (OR, 8.27; 95% CI, 1.33-51.57; P=0.024). The classification accuracy of 85.2% was obtained.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tonsillar cryptic debris and enlarged regional lymph nodes along with recurrent tonsillitis could support the diagnosis of chronic tonsillitis in adults when considering tonsillectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinola-ryngo-logy, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Scien-ces, Eivenių 2, 50028 Kaunas, Lithuania. rutaprib@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Rūta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pribuišienė
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuzminienė
authors.forename: Valdas
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sarauskas
authors.forename: Viktoras
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saferis
authors.forename: Kipras
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pribuišis
authors.forename: Ieva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rastenienė
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D014068:Tonsillectomy; D014069:Tonsillitis / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult