Tonsillectomy and risk of Parkinson's disease: A danish nationwide population‐based cohort study. Issue 2 (29th November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Svensson, Elisabeth; Henderson, Victor W.; Szépligeti, Szimonetta; Stokholm, Morten Gersel; Klug, Tejs Ehlers; Sørensen, Henrik Toft; Borghammer, Per
• Is Part Of: Movement disorders. Volume 33:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 321
• Page End: 324
• Publication Date: 2017-11-29
• Subjects: tonsils -- tonsillectomy -- prion -- Parkinson's disease -- risk factor -- epidemiology -- cohort study; Movement disorders -- Periodicals; 610
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.27253
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0885-3185

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background : We hypothesized that tonsillectomy modifies the risk of PD. Objectives: To test the hypothesis in a nationwide population‐based cohort study. Methods: We used Danish medical registries to construct a cohort of all patients in Denmark with an operation code of tonsillectomy 1980‐2010 (n = 195, 169) and a matched age and sex general population comparison cohort (n = 975, 845). Patients were followed until PD diagnosis, death, censoring, or end of follow‐up 30 November 2013. Using Cox regression, we computed hazard ratios for PD and corresponding 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age and sex by study design, and potential confounders. Results: We identified 100 and 568 patients diagnosed with PD among the tonsillectomy and general population comparison cohort, respectively, finding similar risks of PD (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.95 [95% confidence interval: 0.76‐1.19]; for > 20 years' follow‐up (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.96 [95% confidence interval: 0.64‐1.41]). Conclusion: Tonsillectomy is not associated with risk of PD, especially early‐onset PD. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society