Abstract
THE MEASUREMENT of eustachian tube function has become an important part of the preoperative assessment of myringoplasty and tympanoplastic procedures. Most otologists feel that the blockage of the eustachian tube is the chief etiological factor in chronic, suppurative, middle ear disease and that restoration of function is necessary for a successful result. Many methods are presently being used in the evaluation of tubal patency. The most popular of these is the time honored, retrograde, forced-air inflation of Politzer. Perlman 1 has modified the pneumophone of van Dishoeck for clinical use. This apparatus is used to quantitate the pressure necessary to overcome the elasticity of the closed eustachian tube when air is forced, in a retrograde manner, through the tube. More recently, fluorescein solution and radio opaque materials have been put into the tympanum and allowed to pass through the eustachian tube and viewed either in the nasopharynx under ultraviolet light
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