Middle-Ear Pressure and Eustachian Tube Function

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

In 92 healthy persons with the common cold, 184 ears were examined and 786 coincidental sonotubometric and tympanometric measurements were taken. There was a good tubal function when the middle-ear pressure was 0 to -25 mm H2O, with 91% of the tubes opening during swallowing. A systematically reduced tubal opening was noted as the middle ear pressure decreased from 0 to -200 mm H2O. The present study discloses that a negative middle-ear pressure evaluated by tympanometry does not always denote a closed tube, nor does a flat tympanogram necessarily indicate a middle-ear effusion. No definite limits could be ascertained for the normal middle-ear pressure; the middle ear is extremely dynamic, and middle-ear pressure can change for many reasons.