Correlação entre a nasofibrofaringoscopia e a cefalometria no diagnóstico de hiperplasia de tonsilas faríngeas

Abstract

Hyperplasia of the pharyngeal tonsil is one of the main causes of mouth breathing. The accurate diagnosis of this alteration is important for proper therapeutic planning. As a consequence, studies have been developed in order to provide information about the procedures that can be used for the diagnosis of pharyngeal obstruction. Objective: Verify the correlation between nasopharyngoscopy and cephalometric exams in the diagnosis of pharyngeal tonsil hyperplasia. Material and Methods: 55 children took part in this study, 30 girls and 25 boys, aged between seven and 11. The children were submitted to nasofibropharyngoscopic and cephalometric evaluation to determine the grade of nasopharyngeal obstruction. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient at the 5% significance level was used to verify the correlation of these exams. Results: In nasopharyngoscopy, most children showed hyperplasia of the pharyngeal tonsil grades 2 and 3, followed by grade1. In cephalometry, most children showed hyperplasia of the pharyngeal tonsil grade 1, followed by grade 2. A regular positive correlation was observed in the correlation between the exams. Conclusion: It was concluded that the evaluation of the pharyngeal tonsil hyperplasia can be carried out by fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy and cephalometry, as these examinations present a regular positive relation. However, it was found that cephalometry tends to underestimate the size of the pharyngeal tonsil in relation to nasopharyngoscopy.