The impact of chronic tonsillitis in the development of different rheumatoid pathologies in children

Abstract

Introduction Inflammatory processes in the palatine tonsils promote the development of rheumatoid complications and worsen their pathogenesis. The main factors in the development of these inflammatory cascades are microorganisms that invade lymphoid tissue and lead to specific immunoantigenic changes. Purpose Assessment of the impact of chronic tonsillitis in the development of different forms of rheumatoid pathologies in children: juvenile arthritis(JA) , rheumatic fever(RF) and reactive arthritis(RA). Material and methods The medical records of 169 patients (3-18 years old) with rheumatoid pathology (JA-67; RF-31; RA-71) and chronic tonsillitis were analyzed, they were treated in the Rheumatology department of Mother and Child Institute. We studied personal data, the results of general blood and urine tests, rheumatic tests, immunoglobulins A, M, G and nasopharyngeal smear through Epi Info. Results Distribution of patients according to rheumatoid pathology. The frequency of decompensated chronic tonsillitis, in case of different forms of rheumatic pathologies compared to chronic compensated tonsillitis, is higher. C-reactive protein had elevated values in 36.8±11.06% of patients with compensated chronic tonsillitis in the juvenile arthritis group and 23±11.67% of children with reactive arthritis had antistreptolysin-O with the following values > 200 U/ml. The rheumatoid factor had figures high in 25±6.84% of cases with compensated chronic tonsillitis and juvenile arthritis, while only in 14.3±7.63% of those with reactive arthritis. The result of the nasopharyngeal smear indicates the presence of streptococcus of different species in 53% of cases. Conclusions Streptococcal infection in the lymphatic tissue of the tonsil is involved in the etiopathogenesis of rheumatoid diseases.