Abstract
Mouth breathers use the oral cavity as their principal breathing route. The main causes include: adenotonsillar hypertrophy and inflammatory diseases such as allergic rhinitis. OBJECTIVE: To look for atopy, the main allergens involved and to check for atopy as a comorbidity with the degree of hypertrophy of the tonsils and adenoids in mouth breathers. METHOD: A historical cohort study with cross-sectional review of 308 medical charts of patients treated at a mouth breather care center of a tertiary hospital in the period of 2008-2010. We collected data on the mouth breather's clinical history and we ran otolaryngological exams, flexible nasal endoscopy and skin prick test to aeroallergens. RESULTS: Of 308 patients, 36% were positive on allergy testing, with 95 % of atopic patients being positive for mites. Among all patients, 46% had adenoid hypertrophy; of these, 37% were atopic and 47% had tonsillar hypertrophy, and among these, 33% were atopic. CONCLUSION: We found no direct correlation between atopy and the degree of tonsils and adenoid hypertrophy observed among the mouth-breathing patients assessed. si.