Sleep Apnea in Young Children Associated With Big Tonsils and Enlarged Adenoid Tissue

Investigators using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studied the upper airway of 18 young children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and 18 young controls. They found that the children with OSAS had much smaller airway volume which was further restricted by significantly larger tonsil and adenoid tissue.

Researchers compared the upper airway structure of the 18 young children with OSAS (average age 4.8 years) with 18 matched controls who had no sleep apnea. They discovered the upper airway volume of the OSAS patients was significantly smaller in comparison with the controls, their adenoid tissue was 55 percent larger, and their tonsils were 58 percent bigger. (Apnea is the arrest or stoppage of respiration during sleep that usually lasts 10 seconds or longer before breathing resumes. Hypopnea is slow, shallow respiration.)

The researchers believe the oversized adenoid tissue and large tonsils are the main factors contributing to the airway restriction in the OSAS patients. They found no correlations of percent differences in airway volume alone with the severity of OSAS.

The research appears in the second of two August issues of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.