Tonsilloadenoid Hypertrophy Resulting in Cor Pulmonale

Two more cases of cor pulmonale secondary to enlarged tonsils and adenoids are added to the literature. There exists a wide spectrum of individual response to upper airway obstruction both in the degree of obstruction necessary to precipitate cardiac failure and in the physiologic manner in which the person responds to this stress. Adenoidectomy alone has been done on several patients with good results, while tonsillectomy was sufficient to reverse the disease process in others. Once, it was necessary to return the patient to the operating room after adenoidectomy because of a poor response and to perform a tonsillectomy which carried with it an eventual satisfactory result.