title: Atopy does not affect the frequency of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and sleep apnoea in children who snore.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Viral respiratory infections and atopy have been implicated in the pathogenesis of adenotonsillar hypertrophy and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), but the role of atopy is controversial. We aimed to test our hypothesis that atopy, expressed as physician-diagnosed eczema, was associated with adenotonsillar hypertrophy and OSA among children who snored.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on children who snored and were referred for polysomnography were reviewed. The primary outcome measures were adenotonsillar hypertrophy and OSA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We analysed data on 855 children with a mean age (±standard deviation) of 6.3 (±2.5) years and median obstructive apnoea-hypopnea index of 2.1 episodes per hour. Of the 855 subjects, 133 (15.6%) had physician-diagnosed eczema, 591 (69.1%) had adenoidal hypertrophy, 605 (70.8%) had tonsillar hypertrophy, 219 (25.6%) were obese and 470 (55%) had OSA. Eczema was not related to adenoidal or tonsillar hypertrophy after adjustment for gender and age, with odds ratios (OR) of 1.00 (95% confidence interval 0.67-1.49; p = 0.98) and 0.88 (95% confidence interval 0.59-1.32; p = 0.54), respectively. Similarly, eczema did not affect OSA frequency after adjustment for adenoidal and tonsillar hypertrophy, obesity, gender and age, with an adjusted OR of 0.82 (0.56-1.21; p = 0.32).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Atopy was not related to adenotonsillar hypertrophy or OSA in children who snore.
authors.affiliation: Sleep Disorders Laboratory, University of Thessaly School of Medicine and Larissa University Hospital, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Emmanouel I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bizakis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gourgoulianis
authors.forename: Athanasios G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kaditis
mesh_terms: D000234:Adenoids / Q000473:pathology*; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy; D008297:Male; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology*; D017286:Polysomnography; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D012913:Snoring / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy; Atopic dermatitis; Atopy; Eczema; Sleep-disordered breathing