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Sonotubometric Assessment for Severity of Patulous Eustachian Tube
Iori Takata1, Ryoukichi Ikeda, Tetsuaki Kawase
1*Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine †Sen-En Rifu Otologic Surgery Center, Miyagi-gun ‡Laboratory of Rehabilitative Auditory Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
Objective:
To investigate the relationship between the morphological patency of the eustachian tube (ET) and sound transmission via the ET.
Study Design:
Retrospective chart review and model experiment.
Setting:
Tertiary referral center.
Subjects:
A total of 56 ears of 28 patients (9 men and 19 women, aged from 12 to 82 yr, mean 40.4 ± 21.5 yr) who underwent sonotubometric measurement using postural change as well as computed tomography (CT) of the ET in the sitting position, including 26 ears with definite patulous ET, 9 ears with possible patulous ET, and 21 ears without patulous ET.
Method:
Commercial equipment for sonotubometry (JK-05A; RION Co., Ltd., Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan) was used in the following two investigations. Retrospective survey: sound patency of 7 kHz band noise via the ET was assessed by comparison of acoustic transfer function via the ET in the sitting and forward-bending positions. Sound patency via the ET was compared with morphological patency of the ET (cross-sectional area in the narrowest portion) assessed by three-dimensional CT of the ET in the sitting position. Model experiment: effect of the ET caliber on the acoustic transfer function was examined using a simple model constructed with two truncated syringes with silicone barrels and a narrow connecting tube.
Results:
Sound patency assessed by sonotubometry was well correlated with the cross-sectional area at the narrowest portion of the ET in the sitting position (r = 0.786, p < 0.001). Correlation between the sound patency via the narrow tube and the caliber of the tube was also confirmed by the model experiment.
Conclusions:
Sound patency assessed by sonotubometry using 7 kHz band noise could be useful to predict the morphological severity of patulous ET.
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