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Pathology of the eustachian tube in otitis media: an electron microscopic study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Samy Elwany
Samy Elwany*
Affiliation:
Alexandria, Egypt
*
Professor Sam Elwany, M.D., Alexandria Medical School, P.O. Box 267, Sidi Gaber, Alexandria, Egypt.
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Abstract

The ultrastructure of the mucosa of the eustachian tube was studied in four temporal bones showing tympanosclerosis, cholesteatoma, otitic meningitis and a grafted tympanic membrane (tympanoplasty). The mucosa of tube was abnormal in the four cases confirming the relationship between the state of the eustachian tube and the inflammatory process in the middle ear. The observed abnormalities included: ciliary loss, abnormal ciliary morphology and motility, oedema of the microvilli, hyperplasia of the goblet cells and the seromucinous acini, desquamation of the non-ciliated cells and appearance of mast cells in the lamina propria of the tube. Ciliary changes were the most frequent abnormalities and the morphological changes, in general, were fewest in the case of healed tympanoplasty. The pathophysiology of the morphological changes was discussed and correlated with the disease in the middle ear.

Keywords

Eustachian tubeOtitis mediaMicroscopy, electron

Information

Type
Pathology in Focus
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 107 , Issue 7 , July 1993 , pp. 651 - 655
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1993

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