Objective:
The aim of our study was to investigate the presence of Actinomyces colonization in the tonsillar tissue of children undergoing tonsillectomy and to determine the possible role of Actinomyces in obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy (OTH) and recurrent tonsillitis (RT).
Methods:
Our study was designed retrospectively. A total of 206 tonsils were analyzed histopathologically from 103 children (66 males, 37 females; mean age 7, 14) who underwent tonsillectomy. The tonsil specimens were divided into two groups according to the indications for the operation. These two groups were OTH (Group A) and RT (Group B). Each group was investigated histopathologically for the presence of Actinomyces in their specimens.
Results:
Actinomyces was found in 7 of the patients in Group A (12%) and 2 of the patients in Group B (4.44%). The mean age of patients with Actinomyces was 8.44 (range 4-14 years), and the mean age of patients without Actinomyces was 6.97 years (range 2-17). The average size of Actinomycespositive tonsils was 3.76 mL, whereas the average size of specimens without Actinomyces was 2.68 mL. The tonsils with Actinomyces were found to be significantly larger than the ones without Actinomyces (p<0.01).
Conclusion:
We found no a significant correlation between the presence of tonsillar Actinomycosis and OTH and RT.
Keywords: Actinomyces, obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy, recurrent tonsillitis, tonsillectomy