Tympanomaxillary shunt. A new method of middle ear ventilation.

Abstract

INSUFFICIENT ventilation through the eustachian tube is one of the main causes of middle ear pathology and hearing loss. A dysfunction of the tube is always present in chronic serous otitis and very often in chronic otitis, in which case the result of a tympanoplastic procedure may depend on the ventilatory capacity of the tube. Many attempts to improve the patency of the eustachian tube have been reported in the literature, but very few of these have dealt with the problem of a complete or almost complete obstruction. By introducing a plastic tube through a myringotomy opening Armstrong 1 succeeded in creating a simple procedure for ventilation and drainage of the middle ear. The effect of the plastic tube, however, is usually only temporary, as sooner or later it will be extruded and the drum will heal. This risk might be diminished by some device for fixing the tube,