The attempted categorization of adult acute epipharyngitis based on endoscopic findings

Abstract

We retrospectively examined the findings from upper pharyngeal endoscopy in cases of acute epipharyngitis in which there was clear evidence of the involvement of a bacterial infection. The subjects included 235 patients with acute epipharyngitis who were treated at this hospital from 2014 to 2015. The endoscopic findings suggested that the cases could be categorized into three groups：(1) cases with pus adhesion localized to the tubal elevation, (2) cases with pus adhesion localized to the posterior wall of the epipharynx, and (3) cases with pus adhesion over the entire epipharynx. These cases were considered to have resulted from a bacterial infection of the lymph tissue present in the tubal elevation and the posterior wall of the nasopharynx. Many aspects of the pathology of acute epipharyngitis involving bacterial infection still remain unknown, and further studies will be needed in the future.