Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
Hearing4all Cluster of Excellence, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
PLoS One. 2021 Aug 12;16(8):e0244909. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244909. eCollection 2021.
The extent of dysfunction of the Eustachian tube (ET) is relevant in understanding the pathogenesis of secondary otological diseases such as acute or chronic otitis media. The underlying mechanism of ET dysfunction remains poorly understood except for an apparent genesis such as a nasopharyngeal tumor or cleft palate. To better describe the ET, its functional anatomy, and the biomechanical valve mechanism and subsequent development of diagnostic and interventional tools, a three-dimensional model based on thin-layer histology was created from an ET in this study. Blackface sheep was chosen as a donor. The 3-D model was generated by the coherent alignment of the sections. It was then compared with the cone-beam computed tomography dataset of the complete embedded specimen taken before slicing. The model shows the topographic relation of the individual components, such as the bone and cartilage, the muscles and connective tissue, as well as the lining epithelium with the lumen. It indicates a limited spiraling rotation of the cartilaginous tube over its length and relevant positional relationships of the tensor and levator veli palatine muscles.
咽鼓管（ET）功能障碍的程度与理解继发耳科疾病（如急性或慢性中耳炎）的发病机制有关。除了明显的病因，如鼻咽肿瘤或腭裂，咽鼓管功能障碍的潜在机制仍知之甚少。为了更好地描述 ET 的功能解剖、生物力学瓣膜机制以及随后诊断和介入工具的发展，本研究从 ET 中创建了基于薄层组织学的三维模型。选择黑脸羊作为供体。通过对切片进行一致对齐来生成 3D 模型。然后将其与切片前完整嵌入标本的锥形束计算机断层扫描数据集进行比较。该模型显示了各个组件（如骨骼和软骨、肌肉和结缔组织以及衬里上皮与管腔）的拓扑关系。它表明软骨管在其长度上的螺旋旋转有限，以及腭帆提肌和腭帆张肌的相关位置关系。
