This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (7)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Pediatric Otolaryngology  • Otolaryngology/ Head & Neck Surgery, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic

Sanjay R. Parikh, MD; Evan R. Reiter, MD; Margaret A. Kenna, MD; David Roberson, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:670-673.

Objectives  To review the various causes of period fever in childhood, including the syndrome of periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis (PFAPA), and to examine the value of tonsillectomy in the treatment of PFAPA syndrome.

Design  Retrospective case series.

Setting  Urban and tertiary care referral children's hospital.

Patients  Two patients who underwent tonsillectomy for presumed recurrent adenotonsillitis were later diagnosed as having PFAPA syndrome.

Intervention  Tonsillectomy.

Main Outcome Measure  Frequency of PFAPA symptoms before and after tonsillectomy.

Results  No difference was found in the frequency of PFAPA symptoms after tonsillectomy.

Conclusion  Although a larger series of patients is required, our initial experience suggests that tonsillectomy is not always beneficial for patients with PFAPA syndrome.

From the Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY (Dr Parikh); the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (Dr Reiter); and the Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Disorders, Children's Hospital Boston, and the Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Drs Kenna and Roberson). The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Effect of Adenotonsillectomy in PFAPA Syndrome
Licameli et al.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2008;134:136-140.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Role of Tonsillectomy in PFAPA Syndrome
Wong et al.
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2008;134:16-19.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

PFAPA syndrome: new clinical aspects disclosed
Tasher et al.
Arch. Dis. Child. 2006;91:981-984.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT