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The necessity for direct observation of the pharyngeal outlet of the normal or pathological eustachian tube has always stimulated research for suitable diagnostic instruments. As the result of various investigation procedures currently available, we performed a series of endoscopic screenings using both the Hopkins telescope and the fiberoptic rhinopharyngolaryngoscope. The present study aimed at evaluating and demonstrating the morphological and dynamic functional condition of the pharyngeal outlet of the tube. The present investigation was carried out on 60 males and females, ranging in age from 4 to 70 years. Inspection of the pharyngeal outlet of the tube and its adjoining region enabled us to document some of the various causes for tubal dysfunction. By visualizing tubal movements, endoscopy also made it possible to perform a dynamic study of tubal functions. However, the investigation procedure utilized did not allow us to record any significant differences between the two diagnostic instruments used, except that the fiberscope can be more easily handled, whereas the photographs taken with the telescope are of better quality.

A CT study was made of the eustachian tube in normal subjects as a control group and patients with chronic pathological inflammation of the middle ear. CT made it possible to perform contiguous scans at homologous depths of 1.5 mm, showing the whole interior of the tube in clear detail: the protympanum, the bony and cartilaginous portions, and the nasopharyngeal orifice. In most of the cases of pathological middle ear inflammations, the eustachian tube lumen was seen to be constricted and obstructed with isodense matter. Our present results also show the importance of extending CT investigations beyond the tympanic cavity and the mastoid to the eustachian tube in order to have more clinical data on its condition.