Adenoids and otitis media with effusion: Nasopharyngeal flora

The role of free oxygen radicals on the development of otitis media with effusion

“…Although the clinical importance of OME is well recognized, the precise pathogenesis of the disease process is unknown and the condition has provoked considerable controversy [18]. Adenoid hyperplasia plays an important role in the etiology of OME [19]. Adenoidectomy has been shown to be effective in improving the resolution rate of OME [20,21], but whether this is because it removes a physical obstruction of the Eustachian tube, or a source of ascending infection is a matter for debate.…”

A comparison of conventional and molecular microbiology in detecting differences in pneumococcal colonization in healthy children and children with upper respiratory illness

“…Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis colonize the nasopharynx early in life and are responsible for the vast majority of acute otitis media (AOM) and acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) [5,10,11,15]. S. pneumoniae is the most important of the three pathogens because it is ubiquitous and highly pathogenic [4,7,8,10,13,16,22,29].…”

“…The relationship between colonization and disease has been extensively studied [5,10,12,13,15,16,18,21,24,29]. Children who are colonized early and repeatedly in life are prone to recurrent episodes of otitis media [13].…”

The long-term effects of adenoidectomy on nasal bacterial flora in children

“…Adenoid hypertrophy may influence the balance between the normal nasopharyngeal flora and the pathogenic bacteria. Previously adenoid tissue has been shown to cause colonization of pathogenic bacteria in the nasopharynx, and this situation has been suggested to be the reason of recurrent sinonasal and middle ear infections during childhood (1)(2)(3). The adenoids are lymphoid tissue, situated in the posterior wall of the nasopharynx.…”