Evaluation of efficacy of eustachian tube catheterization by means of ascending salpingography

Abstract

Eustachian tube (ET) catheterization is one of the methods of otitis media treatment which implies the ET insufflation with the simultaneous injection of a medical preparation. The authors have developed a new ear catheter of an innovative form with a special configuration of its distal part, which enables the ET catheterization towards its lumen. The objective of the study was to investigate the efficacy of a medical preparation injection into the middle ear during ET catheterization by means of contrast-enhanced X-ray examination. The study included 18 patients (18 ears) with chronic perforative otitis media without the Eustachian tube ventilation function impairment. Depending on the type of the ear catheter used, the patients were divided into two groups: in the first group of patients (9 patients), a traditional Guyotin catheter was used, in the second group (9 patients) we used an innovative ear catheter. An X-ray examination (a survey radiogram in the nasofrontal projection and temporal bone in Mayer axial projection) was performed both before and after ET catheterization, the authors injected 1.0 ml of the contrast agent Hypaque. According to the results of the study, in the patients of the first clinical group, the radiopaque agent did not enter the middle ear structure, whereas in the second group of the patients the ET was contrasted up to its bone part.