Balloon eustachian tuboplasty for patients with chronic eustachian tube dysfunction: a novel method for Iranian samples

  • Mahnaz Mohamadi
  • Masoud Motasaddi Zarandy
  • Mojtaba Mohammadi Ardehali
  • Mina Motasaddi Zarandy

Abstract

Background and Aim: Balloon eustachian tub­oplasty (BET) is a recently developed and app­roved method for management of chronic eus­tachian tube dysfunction (ETD). In the present study we aimed to evaluate the safety and effi­cacy of this method in Iranian samples.

Methods: In this prospective case-series study, we included 15 adult patients with chronic ETD who were resistant to previous medical manage­ments and/or ventilation tube use. All patients underwent baseline audiometry (pure tone audio­metry and tympanometry), Valsalva maneuver, EDT questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7), and physical examination. Three to six months after the BET procedure, all patients underwent four evaluation methods again.

Results: We found a significant improvement in the mean ETDQ-7 scores comparing pre- and post-test scores (p < 0.0001). There was also a statistically significant decrease in the average air-bone gap from 40.55 at baseline to 27.22 after treatment (p < 0.001). In the Valsalva test, 17 out of 18 study ears (92.3%) had a positive result after the surgery. Under tympanographic evalu­ation, 9 ears (50%) reported a conversion from type B to type A after treatment, 2 ears (11%) had a conversion from type B to C, and 7 ears (39%) showed no any change and stayed in type B after BET.

Conclusion: As a novel method in Iran, BET can be an alternative safe treatment option for chro­nic ETD.

Keywords: Balloon eustachian tuboplasty; eustachian tube dysfunction; Iranian

Published
2020-11-16
Section
Articles