[On the physiopathologic reactions of pharyngeal tonsil from the clinical standpoint (author's transl)]

On the basis of personal experiences the authors isolate two forms of pharyngeal tonsil hypertrophy: a physiological and a pathological one. The first one corresponds to the requirements of the organism which is not completely mature immunologically, it may be quite considerable but causes no disturbances in breathing through the nose or in the function of Eustachian tubes. The pathological hypertrophy of pharyngeal tonsil is due to a parenchymal inflammation caused by viruses with a typical pathogenesis. The authors describe six diagnostic criterias of the pathological hypertrophy of pharyngeal tonsils. Using these criter as they analysed 100 cases of adenotomy from the year 1969 and they have found that in only 38 cases the operation was done for pathological hypertrophy while in 62 cases hypertrophy was physiologic. Adentomy gives good results in cases of pathological hypertrophy but in cases of physiologic hypertrophy it may cause adverse results.