ADENOIDAL WIDTH AND HIV FACTORS

PURPOSE: To determine the factors that correspond to adenoidal hypertr ophy, often prominent in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive p atients. METHODS: The sagittal T1-weighted MR images of 21 HIV-positiv e patients (age range, 25 to 50 years; mean, 37 years) and 21 healthy control subjects (age range, 24 to 55 years; mean, 35 years) were revi ewed blindly and independently by two radiologists who measured the ma ximal dimension of the nasopharyngeal lymphoid tissue. Twenty-six addi tional HIV-positive patients were combined with the original 21 HIV-po sitive patients, and the hematologic studies of these 47 patients were compared with the adenoidal measurements to assess whether a relation ship existed between nasopharyngeal prominence and hematocrit, white b lood cell count, and CD4 count. RESULTS: Mean adenoidal width was 6.76 mm (SD, 5.82) in the HIV-positive population, but was only 3.36 mm (S D, 2.48) in the age-matched control group. Age and HIV status correlat ed with nasopharyngeal width measurements. No relationship between ade noidal width and hematocrit, CD4 count, or white blood cell count was evident. CONCLUSION: After correcting for age, we found that adenoidal lymphoid tissue is more abundant in HIV-positive persons than in cont rol subjects. The hematologic ramifications of this finding remain unc ertain.