Hypernasal speech following adenotonsillectomy.

Extensive study of 120 patients with hypernasal speech following adenotonsillectomy showed that 48 had no evidence of abnormal speech prior to surgery and 41 had minor speech anomalies exacerbated postoperatively. Thirty-five patients had the classical stigma of submucous cleft palate and another 20 had occult submucous clefts. Fifty-seven of the patients had adenotonsillectomies because of recurrent middle ear effusions, but in the majority of these cases, recurrent middle ear disease continued even after surgery, probably secondary to palatal abnormalities.