Antonina Mistretta - Otolaryngology Unit, Department of Biomedicine and Advanced Diagnostic, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Domenico Michele Modica - Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Villa Sofia-Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy.
Alessandro Pitruzzella - Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Stefano Burgio - Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Francesco Lorusso - Otolaryngology Unit, Department of Biomedicine and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Sebastiano Billone - Clinica Pediatrica Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Carla Valenti - Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Giulia Vita - Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Salvatore Poma - Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Villa Sofia-Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy.
Marta Amata - Department of Biomedicine and Internal and Specialistic Medicine (DIBIMIS), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Pietro Vita - Department of Biomedicine Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostic-University of Palermo, Section of Human Anatomy, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Salvatore Gallina - Otolaryngology Unit, Department of Biomedicine and Advanced Diagnostic - University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.

Introduction:One of the most important complications of OSAHS in children is growth delay. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in clinical body growth, and laboratory growth in children with OSAHS after adeno-tonsillar surgery. Materials and Methods:In our study, among ۱۰۲ children suffering from sleep-disordered breathing, ۷۰ met the inclusion criteria because they were affected by OSAHS and adenotonsillar hypertrophy. In total, ۹۶ children affected by adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy (۵۵ males and ۴۱ females) underwent nocturnal cardiorespiratory monitoring with Embletta MPR, monitoring for post-operative ۲۴ hours. Patients underwent blood sampling to evaluate preoperative GH and IGF-۱ serum levels, “placement” in Cacciari’s growth charts and adenotonsillectomy and saturation monitoring for post-operative ۲۴ hours. According to auxological parameters, ۸۲.۸۶% of the patients were below the fiftieth percentile of BMI Cacciari’s growth charts and IGF-۱ preoperative serum levels were below the normal range. All patients underwent adenotonsillectomy.Results:All ۷۰ patients recovered from OSAHS according to the results of nocturnal cardiorespiratory monitoring after six months. IGF-۱ serum levels significantly increased after three months and one year after. All the auxological parameters showed a significant increase after surgery. We calculated the average annual growth in height of the patients before and after adenotonsillectomy (AT): the growth rate was impaired by OSAHS (۵.۴±۱.۳ cm/year), while in the following year post-surgery we found a significant growth speed acceleration (۹.۹±۱.۷ cm/year, P=۰.۰۰۱).Conclusions:In conclusion, growth delay in children can be caused by OSAHS, and when it is due to adenotonsillar hypertrophy, adenotonsillectomy is to be considered as the therapy of choice.

Adeno-tonsillectomy, Adenotonsillar hypertrophy, GH. IGF-۱, Growth failure, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome