Tubal opening and closing ability in unilateral middle ear disease

Eustachian tube function tests were performed simultaneously in both ears of 29 patients with strictly unilateral middle ear disease. In 15 of the patients eustachian tube closing failure was evidenced by sniff-induced negative pressure in one or both middle ears. The results of the pressure equalization test showed that there was no conclusive difference between the abilities of healthy and diseased ears to equalize pressure. The forced opening test indicated that the diseased ears had less resistant tubes, but there was a wide overlap of results. Since no distinct difference was seen, the clinical value of tubal function tests used presently seems to be severely restricted.