[Persistant dysfunction of the eustachian tube: solving the problem].

Each person experienced an unpleasant sensation of congestion of the ear during a flight or in rhinorrhea, which is caused by dysfunction of the Eustachian tube (ET). People with persistent ET dysfunction live with this sensation for months and years. Persistent ET dysfunction in children reaches 40%, in adults it is up to 5%. Most of the pathological conditions of the middle ear, leading to socially significant hearing loss, and the main reasons for failures in hearing-improving operations are associated with persistent ET dysfunction. The effectiveness of various methods of treating this pathology, despite their large quantity, still remains doubtful due to the lack of clear criteria and golden standard for diagnosis, indications for specific methods and long-term results of treatment. According to the aim of the study a diagnostic and treatment algorithm was developed for persistent ET dysfunction in adults and children. We researched this problem for more than 10 years, and the effectiveness of the proposed diagnostic and therapeutic measures has been statistically proven, both by a large sample of patients and by a long period of observation. Researchers of L. I. Sverzhevsky Research Institute of Otorhinolaryngology have developed a diagnostic algorithm for persistent ET dysfunction, optimized the treatment of persistent dysfunction and recurrent concomitant secretory otitis media, and also determined the indications and methods for conducting ET balloon dilatation in adults and children with persistent ET dysfunction. We improved the functionality results of hearing-improving operations (tympanoplasty) in patients with persistent ET dysfunction. All of the above allowed us to reduce the treatment time for this group of patients by up to 50%, to achieve high clinical efficacy in up to 100%, and to obtain a lasting functionality in hearing-improving operations in 93% of cases.

[The medical assistance seeking behaviour of the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media and their treatment in Moscow]. / Obrashchaemost' i lechenie bol'nykh khronicheskim gnoinym srednim otitom v Moskve.

The objective of the present study was the analysis of the medical assistance seeking behaviour of the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media (CSOM) and their treatment in Moscow during the period from 2009 till 2016. The incidence of suppurative chronic otitis media in the city of Moscow in 2016 was estimated to be 0.14 per 1000 population, its prevalence 1.23 per 1000 population. The materials of the statistical reports of Moscow ENT clinics give evidence of the considerable growth in the number of the admitted patients suffering from ear diseases including suppurative chronic otitis media (mean 5.5). The surgical activity of the ENT clinics with respect to CSOM amounted to 46%. The overall increase in the number of surgical interventions is attributable to a rise in the frequency of reconstructive operations. These data give evidence of excellent continuity in the work of outpatient facilities and ENT clinics, intensification of their activities, and a change of the people's attitude toward the care for their health. Suppurative chronic otitis media is the commonest pathology encountered in the specialized ENT hospitals where it accounts for 59.8% of the total number of ENT diseases. The frequency of the surgical interventions performed for the treatment of CSOM amounts to 98.9%. The enhanced attention given to the patients with this pathology resulted in the two-fold increase of the specialized medical assistance provided to the patients presenting with suppurative chronic otitis media. The most frequently practiced form of the surgical treatment employed for the management of CSOM is tympanoplasty (in 72% of the patients on the average). The 'closed' variants of sanitizing operations are performed in 59.8% of the patients presenting with chronic suppurative otitis media and concomitant cholesteatoma whereas the 'open' interventions are used to treat 45.1% of the patients in need of tympano- and mastoidoplasty. On the whole, the priority surgical treatment of the patients with chronic suppurative otitis media in specialized medical facilities is reconstructive operations intended to simultaneously reach the beneficial sanative and functional effects without deterioration of the quality of life of the patients suffering from chronic suppurative otitis media.

[The application of contrast-enhanced X-ray salpingography for the evaluation of the effectiveness of catheterization of the acoustic tube with the use of the Eustachian catheters]. / Rentgenokontrastnaia sal'pingografiia v otsenke éffektivnosti kateterizatsii slukhovoi truby ushnymi kateterami.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the administration of a medication into the middle ear structures during catheterization of the acoustic tube (AT) in the course of the contrast-enhanced X-ray salpingographic investigation. The study included 18 patients (18 ears) presenting with chronic otitis media and the perforated tympanic membrane without the disturbances of the ventilation function of the auditory tube. All the patients were allocated to two groups depending on the type of the Eustachian catheters being used. Group 1 was comprised of 9 patients treated with the use of traditional Giyot's catheter, group 2 was composed of another nine patients who were treated with the use of the Eustachian catheters having an original shape with a specific configuration of its distal part. The X-ray studies were carried out before and after catheterization of the acoustic tube with the administration of 1 ml of the hypaque contrast medium. The study has demonstrated that the X-ray contrast agent did not penetrate into the inner structures of the middle ear of the patients comprising group 1 whereas in the patients of the second group the contrast medium reached as far as the bony portion of the acoustic tube.

[Multiple pneumocele associated with temporal bone hyperpneumatization]. / Mnozhestvennoe pnevmotsele pri giperpnevmatizatsii visochnoi kosti.

The authors consider in brief epidemiology, diagnostics, and variants of the surgical treatment of the rare clinical condition pneumocele and pneumoencephalocele of the temporal bone. Diagnostic and surgical modalities for the management of multiple pneumocele associated with temporal bone hyperpneumatization are discussed.

[The fistula of the round window of the cochlea]. / Fistula okna ulitki.

This article presents the data on the frequency, diagnostics, and variants of the surgical treatment of the fistula of the round window of the cochlea. A case of this pathology is reported with the special emphasis placed on the approaches to the diagnostics and surgical management of this condition.

[The prevalence of tympanosclerosis and the effectiveness of its surgical treatment]. / Rasprostranennost' timpanoskleroza i éffektivnost' ego khirurgicheskogo lecheniia.

The objective of the present study was to characterize the epidemiological variants of tympanosclerosis and the effectiveness of the surgical treatment of the patients presenting with this condition. We have undertaken the analysis of the results of 1965 surgical interventions on the patients suffering from different forms of chronic otitis media (COM) performed during the period from 2009 till 2014 with a view to determining the frequency of tympanosclerosis (TSC). In 542 cases, it proved possible to evaluate the intraoperative findings, stages and methods of reconstructive surgery, the anatomical and functional outcomes and effectiveness of the intervention. At present, the signs of tympanosclerosis are identified in 27.6% of the patients presenting with chronic otitis media including 88.7% and 11.3% suffering from the perforating and non-perforating forms of this pathology, respectively. In 74% of the cases its manifestations are diagnosed in the patients having the tubotympanic form of COM. In 53.3% of the patients TSC foci are responsible for the fixation of the ossicular chain whereas in 46.7% of the cases the auditory ossicles retain mobility. As many as 88.6% of the patients underwent the one-step surgical intervention, 10.7% were managed using two-step surgery, and 0.7% of the patients were given the three-stage treatment. Type I tympanoplasty was performed in 62% of the patients, type III tympanoplasty in 30.4%, and various types of stapedoplasty in 4.6% of the cases. The favourable anatomical and functional outcomes at the first stage of the surgical intervention with the use of the autogenous tissues for tympano- and ossiculoplastic surgery were achieved in 87.9% of the patients on the average (by means of the closure of the tympanic defect in 92.2% and by re-fixation of the selected elements of the ossicular chain in 17.3%of the cases). The anatomical and functional effectiveness of the second-stage surgical intervention was estimated at 93.1%.