Ph.D.-Project: Eustachian Tube Dysfunction: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prognosis
Eustachian Tube Dysfunction, Middle Ear Disease, Hearing Loss, Conductive
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction focused on measuring Balloon Eustachian Tuboplasty, Cone-beam computed tomography, CBCT, Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire, ETDQ-7, Tubomanometry
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Patients are included in the study if they have presented constant or intermittent ETD symptoms for more than three months:
- pressure in the ears,
- pain in the ears,
- a feeling that the ears are clogged or "under water",
- ear symptoms when having a cold or sinusitis,
- crackling or popping sound in the ears,
- ringing in the ears,
- feeling that the hearing is muffled.
Furthermore, objective signs of negative middle ear pressure are needed:
- poorly retractable eardrum,
- tympanometry compatible with negative middle ear pressure (C2 or B-curve).
Exclusion Criteria:
- patient refusal to participate in the study,
- head and neck surgery in the previous three months,
- head and neck irradiation,
- ETD symptoms <3 months,
- adenoid hypertrophy,
- nasal polyposis,
- acute upper respiratory infection or acute sinusitis,
- tympanic membrane perforation,
- age <18 years, cleft palate,
- craniofacial syndromes including Down's Syndrome,
- cystic fibrosis,
- ciliary dysmotility syndrome.
Sites / Locations
- Regional Hospital West JutlandRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Experimental
Balloon Eustachian Tuboplasty
Patients with long-lasting symptoms of ETD, who benefits from tympanostomy tube insertion, will be offered Balloon Eustachian Tuboplasty (BET) of the cartilaginous part of ET. The procedure is performed endonasally under general anesthesia. It is believed that BET leads to micro-bleeding in the mucosa with subsequent scarring and expansion of ET.