Prevalence of humoral immunodeficiency in adult patients with recurrent tonsillitis

Recurrent tonsillitis in adults has a significant impact on patients' daily life and healthcare costs. Humoral immunodeficiency increases the susceptibility to recurrent infections. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and contribution of humoral immunodeficiency in adult patients with recurrent tonsillitis. A prospective cross-sectional study conducted over 3 years duration with two groups of subjects. Group 1: included 50 normal adult subjects and group 2: included 50 adult patients with recurrent tonsillitis. Recruitment occurred in a tertiary care hospital in Egypt. Different immunoglobulins (Ig A, Ig M and Ig G isotypes) were quantitatively assessed and compared in 2 groups. Incidence of different infections was also compared in patients with humoral immunodeficiency versus patients with intact immunity. 4 (8%) subjects in group 1 had selective humoral Immunodeficiency versus 13 (26%) patients in group 2. Patients with recurrent tonsillitis had significantly lower mean of most assessed immunoglobulins: IgA (P = 0.002), IgM (P = 0.003), IgG (P