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Three-dimensional reconstruction and measurement study of human eustachian tube structures: a hypothesis of
1Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
Abstract:
Histologic sections from nine temporal bones with eustachian tubes (ETs) attached were analyzed with a computer-aided three-dimensional reconstruction method to determine the curvature and tilt of the ET and the anatomic relationships between the medial lamina of the ET cartilage, the levator veli palatini muscle (LVPM), and Rosenmüller's fossa. It was found that the ET is convex superomedially and is tilted medially. The LVPM is located inferolateral to the inferior margin of the medial lamina of the anterior ET cartilage. The LVPM is inferior to the medial lamina of the posterior ET cartilage. These findings suggest that the LVPM opens the anterior cartilaginous portion of the ET by rotating the medial lamina with increased dimension of the muscle body when it contracts. Rosenmüller's fossa extends along the ET with rich lymphoid tissues as far as approximately one half the total length of the ET and very close to the skull base.