Multiple sclerosis and tonsillectomy: no evidence for an influence on the development of disease or clinical phenotype

The notion that cervical lymphatic surgery may influence the development of multiple sclerosis has been suggested before. Recent work in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis lends further support to this idea. We, therefor e conducted a case:control study of tonsillectomy in multiple sclerosis. We found no evidence to suggest that tonsillectomy affects susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. This result supports previous studies, which have large ly foiled to show any link between prior tonsillectomy and the subsequent d evelopment of multiple sclerosis. In addition, we foiled to show any effect of tonsillectomy on the extent of cerebral demyelination as assessed clini cally or with magnetic resonance imaging.