Assessment Of Adenoid Nasopharyngeal Ratio In Children With Symptoms Suggestive Of Obstructive Adenoid Disease

Background: Adenoid hypertrophy (AH) is a common childhood illness that occurs due to obstruction of the nasopharynx by enlarged adenoids. Lateral  nasopharyngeal X-ray is used for diagnosis and assessment of patency of the nasopharyngeal air column by assessing the Adenoid Nasopharyngeal  Ratio (ANR). This study aims to assess the ANR of symptomatic patients with AH that presented to Ear, Nose and Throat/ Head and Neck Surgeon  (ENT/HNS) Department of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH). Methodology: This was a retrospective study conducted in the ENT/HNS Department of UATH, Gwagwalada from January 2019 to December 2021. The  case notes and lateral nasopharyngeal xrays of 112 children aged between 3 months to 15 years, diagnosed with Adenoid Hypertrophy, were retrieved.  Relevant information such as demographics, and Lateral Nasopharyngeal X-ray measurements were extracted. Results: A total number of 112  participants were enrolled into this study. Out of these, 77 (68.8%) were males and 35 (31.2%) were females. The mean  age of participants was 3.86 0.27 years, and age range was 3 months to 15 years. Most participants were between 0 – 5 years. The mean ANR among  participants was 0.69 0.02. The minimum ANR was 0.03, and the maximum ANR was 1.00 Majority of participants had ANR 0.69. None of the participants  between 10 – 15 years had an ANR > 0.79. Regression analysis showed statistically significant correlation between ANR and Age (p = 0.05). Conclusion: We  observed an Adenoidal Nasopharyngeal Ratio that was lower than the benchmark of ANR considered for AH, this may probably be due to  our inability to control the timing for obtaining the radiographs from clinic visit and some may have commenced treatment