[Unilateral patulous eustachian tube with tinnitus, inner ear damage, vertigo and sudden deafness--collagen...

In elderly patients an unilateral sensorineural hearing loss is frequently associated with a relatively more patent eustachian tube on the involved side. A simple method of investigation is observation under the operating microscope during tubal inflation by the patient. In right-handed patients the abnormally patent tube most often lay on the left side. Powerful self inflation in these patients induces acute hearing loss and vertigo. Acute hearing loss is commoner on the left side. The air bone gap is greater at higher frequencies due to mobility of the stapes, loosening of the incudal joints and the tympanic membrane. In contrast the air bone gap is greater at lower frequencies in otosclerosis or malleus head ankylosis. Minor degrees improve after self inflation is prohibited. In most patients with abnormally patent eustachian tubes further therapy is not necessary after the patient has received precise advice. In only about 20% of the cases is the patient disturbed by a feeling of fullness in the ear, autophony and tinnitus. After stabilisation of weight and blood pressure, a septoplasty with correction of the posterior turbinates may reduce the exspiratory resistance. The most drastic treatment is a collagen injection around the tube. Patients with depression should be treated appropriately.