Evaluation on short-term efficacy of balloon dilation in the treatment of symptomatical eustachian tube dysfunction / 中国耳鼻咽喉头颈外科

[ABSTRACT]OBJECTIVETo evaluate the short-term efficacy of Eustachian tube balloon dilation (ETBD) in the treatment of symptomatic Eustachian tube dysfunction (SETD) by subjective and objective analysis.METHODS Forty patients who underwent ETBD were included. Subjects’ inclusion criteria were as followed: symptoms of ETD (aural fullness predominantly, with or without otalgia, muffle hearing and tinnitus), normal tympanic membrane, type A or C tympanograms, and without a history of any middle ear diseases. Main outcomes including subjective improvement, otoscopy, pure-tone audiometry, impedance audiometry, R-value in tubomanometry (TMM) and Eustachian Tube Score (ETS) were assessed 1 week and 6 months postoperatively.RESULTSAll cases were dilated successfully. A significant effect of treatment was documented when measuring subjective improvement, impedance audiometry, R-value in TMM and ETS 1 week and 6 month postoperatively. Subjective symptoms were not relieved only in one patient. The overall success rate for all patients was 98%.CONCLUSIONETBD can provide short-term benefits to those who are diagnosed with SETD and refractory to medical management. SETD might be an optimal indication for ETBD in the treatment of ETD.

Application of Valsalva experiment combined with improved eustachian tube MRI tomography tilt in nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 实用放射学杂志

Objective To discuss the value of Valsalva experiment combined with improved MRI tilt tomography applying on the pharyngeal ostium of eustachian tube opening function of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods 1 7 cases with patholog-ically proved NPC underwent conventional MRI plain and enhanced scan.In the eustachian tube area oblique transection T2 WI and T1 WI scanning was done before and after the Valsalva experiment.The invasion of eustachian tube and its surrounding structures was analyzed and the eustachian tube function was evaluated.Results Valsalva experiments combined with improved MRI trans-verse oblique scan could clearly display the whole structure of the eustachian tube and surrounding tissue invasion compared with conventional scanning MR scan.And it could better evaluate the eustachian tube opening function for patients suffered nasopharynge-al carcinoma.Conclusion Valsalva experiments with improved MRI oblique transverse imaging could achieve individualized scan of the eustachian tube,and could be used for evaluating the pharyngeal opening function of eustachian tube in patients with nasopharyn-geal carcinoma.