A 30-year-old man was admitted for acute ischemia of the fingers. Physical examination was normal, with normal sinus rhythm on the ECG. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a dilated right atrium (RA) with a suspected cor triatriatum dexter. Cardiac magnetic resonance found a mobile undulating elongated Eustachian valve (EV) (Figure 1 A, B, C), creating a posterior tunnel in the bottom of the ...

Two patients with congenital dermoids of the eustachian tube presented with recurrent otitis media and chronic otorrhea resistant to antimicrobial therapy. CT demonstrated fat density, homogeneous lesions, filling and expanding the eustachian tube. On MR, signal from the lesions was consistent with fat, and the relationship with the internal carotid artery was better delineated than by CT. Micr...

Recent prospective controlled studies have demonstrated that transcatheter closure of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) reduces recurrent stroke risk in select patients, especially patients younger than 60 years with PFO and embolic-appearing infarct where no other mechanism was identified. Detection depends on the intensity Valsalva maneuver, not all PFOs can be diagnosed using transesophageal echo...

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in Taiwan. It can spread anteriorly, laterally, posteriorly, superiorly and inferiorly. Skull base invasion is the common presentation, in up to one-third of cases. We report a rare spreading pathway of NPC, via the eustachian tube. A 44-year-old male suffered from NPC and got radiotherapy about 2 years ago. He suffered from middle e...

septum length, and rims and thickness with electronic caliper edgeto-edge (4). Four main features were used to analyze patients: 1) diameter of the fossa ovalis (FO); 2) presence and length of the channel; 3) presence and degree of atrial septal aneurysm (ASA), following the classification of Olivares et al. (5); and 4) rim thickness. We also analyzed the presence of Eustachian valve and Chiari...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Surgery of the paranasopharyngeal space is very hazardous due to the position of the internal carotid artery, which is surrounded by soft tissue with few anatomical landmarks. STUDY DESIGN Fresh cadaveric study. METHODS In this study, we used the maxillary swing procedure to have a broad view of the internal carotid artery using an anterior approach. We sought to estab...

OBJECTIVE It is known that eustachian tubal compliance has influence on the tubal function. We applied the direct measurement method to ascertain whether or not aging and tubal diseases are related to the compliance of the cartilaginous part of the eustachian tube. METHODS We developed a method for directly measuring tubal compliance by inserting a balloon catheter, which is inflated with wat...

In eustachian tube dysfunction, the eustachian tube fails to open sufficiently, resulting in a difference between the air pressure inside and outside the middle ear. This condition can cause pain and hearing loss and may lead to barotitis media, otitis media, tinnitus, and vertigo. Although several treatment options are available, from antibiotics to surgery, little documentation of osteopathic...