title: Usefulness of the Saccharin Test for Assessment of Eustachian Tube Function in Patients With Chronic Otitis Media With Perforation.
abstract: The eustachian tube (ET) has two important functions, ventilation and clearance of the middle ear. We evaluated the ET ventilator function by the sonotubometry and the inflation-deflation test that are widely used today, and the ET clearance function by the saccharin test. Results of both tests were compared with surgical outcomes, and assessed which test was more closely related to the surgical outcomes.
  
  
  
  Prospective case series.
  
  
  
  A single university hospital.
  
  
  
  One hundred four ears of 95 patients with chronic otitis media with perforation underwent type I tympanoplasty.
  
  
  
  Based on sonotubometry and the inflation-deflation test, the patients were divided into normal, stenosis, and patulous types. Based on the saccharin test, they were divided into a normal function group and a partial/gross dysfunction group. Surgical outcomes about the hearing results and the condition of the eardrum were assessed 1 year postoperatively. Preoperative evaluation of ET function was compared with the surgical outcome.
  
  
  
  Sonotubometry and inflation-deflation tests showed there was no significant difference among the groups about the hearing improvement and the surgical success rate. The saccharin test showed that the rate of the hearing improvement was significantly lower in the gross dysfunction group and that the success rate of Type I tympanoplasty was significantly higher in the normal group than in the dysfunction group.
  
  
  
  There is a relationship between the saccharin test results and surgical outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Miki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ikehata
authors.forename: Shigeto
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mishiro
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Katsura
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miuchi
authors.forename: Kenzo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuzuki
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakagami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003939:Diagnostic Techniques, Otological; D004432:Ear, Middle / Q000503:physiopathology; D005064:Eustachian Tube / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012439:Saccharin; D014432:Tympanic Membrane / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D012439:Saccharin