Adenoidal hypertrophy (AH) represents one of the most frequent indications for surgery in children and it has been proposed that treatment with intranasal corticosteroids can decrease the size of AH. Therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of the use of intranasal flunisolide among children affected by AH. 178 children with AH were evaluated in this randomised and controlled study. Inclusion criteria for the study required that each patient had to have a III or IV degree of AH on the initial endoscopic examination. Children were treated with intranasal flunisolide or isotonic saline solution for 8 weeks. After treatment, endoscopy was performed to re-evaluate AH degree. Flunisolide treatment was associated with significant (p less than 0.04) reduction of AH degree. There was moreover a consistent reduction of children (46 out of 58) proposed to adenoidectomy. No clinically important adverse events were reported. In conclusion, this preliminary study demonstrates that an 8-week treatment with intranasal flunisolide is significantly associated with reduction of AH, thus preventing the recurrence to adenoidectomy, and is safe.

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The paper provides normative data for speech sound development of Italian-speaking children; preliminary psychometric analysis of Rossi's articulation test revealed satisfactory reliability and construct validity. Clinicians are recommended to use Rossi's articulation test to assess speech sound development in Italian children.