Sensation of ear fullness caused by eustachian tube dysfunctions

One hundred and ninety-four patients with a sensation of ear fullness were examined with the audiometry, tympanometry, and tubotympanoaero-dynamic graphy (TTAG) as a eustachian tube ventilatory test. In 74 cases of 194, the eustachian tube dysfunction was thought to cause an ear fullness sensation and patulous tube was found in 19 patients which is more frequent than expected. Functional unbalance of the both eustachian tubes which results from minimum ventilatory disturbance on the complaining side was also thought to be one of the causes of this symptom. The eustachian tube dysfunctions like stenotic or patulous tube could not be fully diagnosed by the audiometry and tympanometry because most patients with the eustachian tube dysfunctions showed normal middle ear pressure measured by the tympanometry. From our study, it could be concluded that eustachian ventilatory test like TTAG was very available in the patient with an ear fullness feeling which is one of the most common symptoms in the otolaryngological field.