Abstract
I would like to thank Dr. Lee for his interest in our article and make some comments on his letter. In our study, we subjectively classified palatine tonsils using Friedman's method instead of Brodsky's grading system. Therefore, the suggestion in his letter that “Perhaps this explains the authors' finding of significant discordance in Brodsky's tonsil grade 2 and 3” is incorrect. Personally, I prefer Friedman's method because it classifies tonsils according to tonsil extension to the pillars and midline, which are relatively simple and fixed standards, and provides more consistent evaluation of the tonsils, irrespective of the clinician. However, when using Brodsky's grading system, we have to create an imaginary line between the pillars and quarter this line during oral cavity examination. Moreover, as Dr. Lee points out in his letter, airway dimensions (e.g., distance between the anterior pillars, distance between the posterior pillars, and tonsil extension to the oropharynx) will likely vary, even in the same patient, according to the degree of oropharyngeal wall movement. Especially in young children, it seems difficult to consistently classify tonsils using Brodsky's tonsil grade.