Prevalence of tonsillar Actinomyces in children undergoing tonsillectomy for sleep disordered breathing compared with recurrent tonsillitis

The role of the actinomyces in obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy and recurrent tonsillitis in pediatric population

“…Their prevalence varies greatly from 1.3% to 48% [1,3,6]. In a recent study which consisted of 1213 subjects in pediatric population, 221 (18.2%) patients had Actinomyces in their tonsillectomy specimens [7]. In the present study; the prevalence of Actinomyces was 33.3% of 90 pair of tonsillectomy specimens.…”

“…Riffat and Walker [7] recently published a study of 1213 subjects who underwent tonsillectomy; they found Actinomyces is more prominent in sleep-breathing disordered subjects than recurrent tonsillitis subjects. The authors suggested Actinomyces should be considered as a potential etiologic mechanism of obstructive tonsillar hypertrophy [1,2].…”

Prevalence of Tonsillar Actinomycosis in Tonsillectomy Specimens; Clinical Importance and Management

“…Riffat and Walker (27) used histopathological analysis with hematoxylin-eosin staining plus microbiological culture for Actinomycosis and suggested that Actinomyces colonization in tonsillar tissue cannot be neglected as passive saprophytes and its correlation with clinical diseases must be further studied.…”

Actinomycosis and tonsillar disease

“…Pransky et al found actinomycetes to be more prevalent contemplated it’s aetiological role in obstructive tonsillar-adenoidal hypertrophy 3. Actinomyces colonisation has been reported to be higher in patients undergoing tonsillectomies for sleep disordered breathing as compared to recurrent tonsillitis, but it does not contribute to tonsillar hypertrophy or to recurrent tonsillitis 13 14. However, other studies have found no causal association between tonsillar hypertrophy, recurrent tonsillitis and actinomycetes infection 4 5 15.…”