title: Treatment Effectiveness for Symptoms of Patulous Eustachian Tube: A Systematic Review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effectiveness of currently available medical and surgical interventions for treating symptoms of Patulous Eustachian Tube (PET).
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive search of MEDLINE (January 1948 to July 8, 2015), EMBASE (January 1974 to July 8, 2015), gray literature, hand searches, and cross-reference checking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Original published reports evaluating an intervention to treat the symptoms of patulous eustachian tube in patients 18 years and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quality-of-case reviews were assessed with the National Institute of Health (NIH) Quality Assessment Tool for Case Series Studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The search strategy identified 1,104 unique titles; 39 articles with 533 patients are included. The available evidence consists of small case series and case reports. The most common medical treatment was nasal instillation of normal saline. Surgical treatments were categorized as mass loading of the tympanic membrane, eustachian tube plugging, and manipulation of eustachian tube musculature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The available evidence for management of patients with PET is poor in quality and consists predominantly of small case series. Further research is needed to determine the comparative efficacy of the current treatments.
authors.affiliation: *Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, B.C. Rotary Hearing and Balance Clinic, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada †Cardiovascular Foundation of Colombia, Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia ‡Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Luu
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Remillard
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fandino
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saxby
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Westerberg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D005064:Eustachian Tube / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000601:surgery