CT Imaging of the Eustachian Tube: Review Article

Abstract

Background: Over the past century, numerous methods have been used to image the Eustachian tube, but none of them have gained widespread acceptance. Patients with persistent Eustachian tube dysfunction now have an increased need to have their Eustachian tubes examined, thanks to the discovery of balloon Eustachian tuboplasty (BET). Prior to BET, a lot of facilities perform temporal bone and epipharynx computed tomography (CT) scans. Aim: The aim of our study was to review measures of patency of ET and delineate its interior luminal anatomy in patients with tympanic membrane perforation subjected for myringoplasty in an objective radiologic way by injecting a radiopaque dye into tympanic orifice of ET through TM perforation and tracing it with high resolution computerized tomography scan. Conclusion: It is possible and safe to visualize the ET lumen in people using intratympanic contrast media, and doing so during a preoperative CT scan does not cover up other important image data.