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Will
he/she outgrow the problem?
In
general, yes. We rarely see patients over 40 years old with
significant enlargement or infections of the tonsils.
However, we have also seen 35 year old patients in severe
heart failure due to sleep apnea and severely enlarged
tonsils...about to undergo a heart transplant...and their
doctor had said they did not need the tonsils out because they
would outgrow the problem. (A tonsillectomy would have
prevented the heart failure and years of sleep deprivation.)
In short, the potential gain of a tonsillectomy (or any other
procedure) has to be weighed against the likelihood of
resolution, the risks of the procedure, the discomfort, and
the expense. For many patients, tonsillectomy is still an
appropriate decision.
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