Question

My daughter often coughs and has a runny nose, and she breathes irregularly. Initially, I thought she had a cold, so I took her to the clinic for a check-up, and the doctor diagnosed her with adenoid hypertrophy and recommended further examination at the hospital. I would like to ask what common causes are associated with adenoid hypertrophy?

Answer

The main causes of adenoid hypertrophy are categorized into two types:

  1. Congenital immune deficiency leading to physiological hypertrophy: During the first 1 to 3 years of a child’s life, the active substances of the immune function (such as immunoglobulins) mainly come from the mother. When these immune substances are depleted after 2 to 3 years, the body relies on regional immune functions (such as the tonsils) to maintain immunity. Due to children’s congenital immune deficiency, there is a greater demand for regional immune functions, causing the tonsils to overdevelop, especially before the age of 6 or 7. This overgrowth is a result of the body’s self-immune regulation and is referred to as “physiological tonsillar hypertrophy.” If there is physiological hypertrophy of the palatine tonsils in the oropharynx, it often accompanies the physiological hypertrophy of the adenoids (pharyngeal tonsils). As age grows, the hematopoietic function of the bone marrow and the enhancement of systemic immune function reduce the reliance on the tonsils, causing them to gradually atrophy.
  2. Acquired infections causing inflammatory hypertrophy: Since the adenoids are located in the nasopharynx, inflammatory secretions from nasal diseases easily flow into the nasopharynx, leading to chronic inflammation. Prolonged inflammation can cause chronic inflammation of the adenoids, resulting in hypertrophy. Therefore, chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and allergic rhinitis are nasal diseases that easily lead to chronic inflammatory hyperplasia of the adenoids.