Thymus Sonometry and Recurrent Respiratory Infections in Preschool Chikdren

Abstract

Introduction. The results of scientific research that have been received so far in terms of the relationship between health status of children of various age and thymus size are controversial. On the one hand, researchers mainly from the former Soviet Union note the presence of the clear association between thymomegaly and an increased tendency to recurrent respiratory infections among preschool children. On the other hand, according to current data of world medical science, a relatively larger thymus, on the contrary, is considered to be the sign of the optimal state of child's immune system. The study aimed at clarifying of the interdependence between the thymus physical parameters and the frequency of acute respiratory infections in children aged 1-6 years. Materials and Methods. Thirty-seven children (16 boys and 21 girls) aged from one to six years, undergoing inpatient treatment on acute respiratory infection, were involved in the clinical study. Two markers of acute respiratory infections recurrence (infections index, resistance index) were taken into account and several anthropometric parameters were calculated for each child. The participants also underwent ultrasound scan. The statistical processing of the obtained primary digital material was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics 26 licensed program. Results. The thymus size was within the reference values only in 14 (37.84%) examined children. In the majority of the patients (23 (62.16%)), it was below the mentioned values. The significant exceeding the thymic index values in the children of the younger age group as compared with the older children was found. There was no difference between the boys and girls in terms of thymus volume, mass and thymic index. Conclusions. There is а moderately pronounced inverse relationship between the age of the examined children and the thymic index, according to which this index values are decreased with increasing age. The integral indicators of acute respiratory infections recurrence among the preschool children are not correlated with the studied absolute and relative sonometric thymus parameters. The thymic index values are in the closest and inverse correlation with the body surface area among all the anthropometric parameters considered in the children.