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. 2018 Apr 25;3(3):214-217.
doi: 10.1002/lio2.158. eCollection 2018 Jun.

Abnormally wide eustachian tubes involving the sphenoid bone: A collection

Benedicte Falkenberg-Jensen  1   2   3 , Ketil R Heimdal  2   4 , Hans Erik Høgevold  2   5 , Greg E Jablonski  3   6 , Bernt J Due-Tønnessen  7   2 , Einar Hopp  1   2
Affiliations

Abnormally wide eustachian tubes involving the sphenoid bone: A collection

Benedicte Falkenberg-Jensen et al. Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol. .

Abstract

Objectives: To present nine patients with an abnormal widened bony Eustachian tube running anteriorly in the skull base through the sphenoid bone.

Methods: Patients with a particular anomaly in the bony Eustachian tube incidentally found on CT examinations were registered consecutively over a period of four years.

Results: Nine patients had the anomaly, eight unilaterally and one bilaterally. All our patients had additional anomalies involving the outer, middle, and/or inner ear.

Conclusion: The consequences of this anomaly remain unknown, but the presence of the widened, bony ET should increase the awareness for complex temporal bone deformities and vice versa.

Level of evidence: 4.

Keywords: Eustachian tube; anomaly; skull base; sphenoid bone.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Left: Axial image of patient no. 2 demonstrates one of the narrower variants in the group (arrow). Note the distance between the ET (Eustachian tube) variant and the sphenoid sinus, indicating that the pneumatisation of the ET is independent of the sphenoid sinus. Dehiscence to carotid artery (black asterisk). Middle: Axial image of patient no. 1 with bilateral anomalies (arrows). Right: Axial image of patient no. 4, demonstrating one of the widest ET variants (arrow) in our group. There is a soft tissue mass representing a cholesteatoma (white asterisk). SS = sphenoid sinus; SB = sphenoid bone.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Top: Coronal image of patient no. 5 demonstrating the ventral end of the abnormal bony ET communicating with a short, vertical soft tissue tube, which opens to the epipharynx (ellipse). Bottom: An oblique sagittal image of patient no. 3 demonstrating the horizontal course of the ET between the middle ear (open arrow) and the sphenoid bone (full arrow). SS = sphenoid sinus; SB = sphenoid bone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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