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Adenoid bacterial colonization in a paediatric population

  • Laryngology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Adenoids play a key role in both respiratory and ear infection in children. It has also been shown that adenoidectomy improves these symptoms in this population. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate adenoid bacterial colonization and document a possible relation with infectious respiratory disease. A prospective observational study was designed to evaluate the proposed hypothesis in a paediatric population submitted to adenoidectomy by either infectious or non-infectious indications and compare these two cohorts. A total of 62 patients with ages ranging from 1 to 12 years old were enrolled in the study. Adenoid surface, adenoid core and middle meatus microbiota were compared. A close association between adenoid colonization and nasal infection was found, supporting that adenoids may function as bacterial reservoir for upper airway infection. The obtained results also contribute to explain the success of adenoidectomy in patients with infectious indications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank to Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge for financial support (Grant 2015DDI1143), to research nurses Sofia Simoes and Claudia Vieira from HBA for technical support during the sample collection stage of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Serviço de otorrinolaringologia (ORL), Hospital de Beatriz Ângelo (HBA), Avenida Carlos Teixeira 3, 2674-514, Loures, Portugal

    João Subtil, Luís Freitas, Joana Filipe, Alberto Santos & Carlos Macor

  2. Departamento de Doenças Infeciosas (DDI), Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Avenida Padre Cruz, 1649-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Carlos Rodrigues & Lúcia Reis

  3. Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa, Av Prof Gama Pinto, 1649-003, Lisbon, Portugal

    Aida Duarte

  4. Departamento de Saúde Ambiental, Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento, INSA, Avenida Padre Cruz, 1649-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luisa Jordao

Authors
  1. João Subtil
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  2. João Carlos Rodrigues
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  3. Lúcia Reis
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  4. Luís Freitas
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  5. Joana Filipe
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  6. Alberto Santos
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  7. Carlos Macor
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  8. Aida Duarte
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  9. Luisa Jordao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luisa Jordao.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

Grant 2015DDI1143 attributed to Luisa Jordao and Joao Carlos Rodrigues by the Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge was used to support the present work.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by Hospital de Beatriz Ângelo Medical Ethics Board in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

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Subtil, J., Rodrigues, J.C., Reis, L. et al. Adenoid bacterial colonization in a paediatric population. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 274, 1933–1938 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4493-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4493-z

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