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Chondroma of the head and neck are commonly found in the nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, or larynx but rarely at other sites. Here we report a rare case of nasopharyngeal chondroma arising from the Eustacian tube. The patient was a 55-year-old male with chief complaints of nasal obstruction and left ear fullness. Nasal observation showed a white mass lesion filling the area extending from the left Eustachian tube to the nasopharynx. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the pharynx showed a mass lesion occupying the nasopharyngeal cavity. We performed surgical excision of the nasopharyngeal tumor via the endoscopic endonasal approach. Histopathological examination performed at our hospital led to the diagnosis of chondroma. As of this report, 4 months have passed since surgery and the patient has not experienced a relapse. Although chondroma is a benign tumor, local recurrence or malignant transformation is possible. Therefore, these patients should continue to be followed up regularly.

Since impairment of functions of the Eustachian tube can lead to various diseases of the middle ear, it is considered that morphological and functional evaluation of the Eustachian tube is of clinical importance. However, it has been difficult to evaluate the Eustachian tube because it is located deep in the head, and most of the morphological studies conducted in the past have been based on the examination of specimens obtained from cadavers. One limitation of such studies is that dynamic processes in the living body cannot be evaluated. Multislice CT permits the Eustachian tube to be evaluate greater detail in living subjects and has provided new findings in morphological studies. Furthermore, the latest Area Detector CT systems allow dynamic studies to be performed. This report describes the basic principles of this examination technique and presents the latest findings obtained by analysis of the morphological and functional characteristics of the Eustachian tube using Multislice CT and Area Detector CT.

We clarified the disease pathophysiology caused by Eustachian tube disfunction by examining the difference in each age of the Eustachian tube form. We measured the living human Eustachian tube using multislice CT (MSCT). Comparing without skew or contraction in case of cadaveric spesimens the length of each part of the Eustachian tube, the diameter, and the angle based on the image data obtained by MSCT for all age groups in our study, which involved 48 samples from adults and 31 from chidren (23 ears under 7 years old). We classified specimens from those less than 6 years old as the infant-youngchildren group, and from those 7 years or older as the schoolchildren-adult group. Mean total length, cartilage part length, and bony part length was, as expected, longer in schoolchildren-adult group than infant-youngchildren group, as was the pharyngeal orifice diameter. The mean angle between the bony part and cartilage part was more acute in schoolchildren-adult group, as was the cartilage part steepness. We proved a characteristic of three-dimensional anatomy of a child Eustachian tube in living human organism.