Postnatal development of eustachian tube cartilage. A study of normal and cleft palate cases

• Published in: International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 31 - 36
• Main Authors: Takasaki, Kenji, Sando, Isamu, Balaban, Carey D, Ishijima, Ken
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ireland Ltd 30.01.2000; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cartilage - anatomy & histology; Cartilage - growth & development; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Cleft palate; Cleft Palate - pathology; Cleft Palate - physiopathology; Culture Techniques; Eustachian Tube - anatomy & histology; Eustachian Tube - growth & development; Eustachian tube cartilage; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Photomicrography; Reference Values; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology; Volume; Infant; Cleft palate; Volume; Eustachian tube cartilage; Human; Healthy subject; Stomatology; Cleft; Exploration; Congenital disease; Cartilage; Postnatal; Malformation; Development; Oral cavity disease; Palate; Child; Comparative study; Eustachian tube
• ISSN: 0165-5876; 1872-8464
• DOI: 10.1016/S0165-5876(99)00292-X

Infants with cleft palate (CP) display eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction. This study compared the postnatal development of the volume of ET cartilage in 34 normal cases and 10 CP cases using a personal computer. In cases with age under 1 month old, the total volume of ET cartilage was 61.94±20.89 mm 3 (mean±S.D.) in 16 normal control cases and 50.07±24.69 mm 3 in nine CP cases ( t-test, not significantly different from normal). The ratio of lateral lamina (LL) to medial lamina (ML) volume (LL/ML) was reduced significantly ( t-test, P<0.001) from 0.23±0.07 in 16 normal control cases to 0.09±0.05 in nine CP cases under 1 month old. In 34 normal ET cases whose ages were under 20 years, statistically significant positive correlations were found between the total volume of ET cartilage ( y1) and age ( x), volume of LL ( y2) and age, and volume of ML ( y3) and age ( P<0.01, r=0.731, 0.614, 0.719). The regression lines were y1=20.37 x+95.57, y2=2.02 x+15.60, and y3=18.35 x+79.97. With the result obtained from this study, it is assumed that immaturity of the ET cartilage in infants, especially that of LL of the ET cartilage in CP infants, may be a significant risk factor for developing otitis media with effusion.