Honjo I, Hayashi M, Ito S, Takahashi H
Am J Otolaryngol. 1985 May-Jun;6(3):241-4. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0709(85)80095-8.
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between mucociliary and muscular clearance in the eustachian tube. Displacement of various viscosities and volumes of a colored fluid through the tube was observed endoscopically in cats. To test ciliary clearance, the fluid was placed in either the tympanum or the mastoid bulla. The interval between the instillation and beginning of discharge of the fluid from the pharyngeal orifice of tube was measured. Clearance time was prolonged with fluids having high viscosities, and the clearance time from the tympanum was shorter than that from the mastoid bulla. To test muscular clearance, the tensor veli palatini muscle was stimulated electrically to simulate swallowing, and the number of contractions necessary for massive discharge of the fluid was counted. Massive discharge occurred only with low viscosity fluid placed in the tympanum, whereas small amounts of highly viscous fluid were cleared by linear discharge. The authors concluded that when the volume of middle ear effusion was small, the fluid was cleared by mucociliary clearance. When the volume of fluid was large, the low viscosity fluid was cleared by muscular clearance only, while highly viscous fluid was cleared both by ciliary and muscular clearance.
本研究的目的是阐明咽鼓管中黏液纤毛清除和肌肉清除之间的关系。通过内镜观察猫体内不同黏度和体积的有色液体在咽鼓管中的移位情况。为测试纤毛清除功能，将液体置于鼓室或乳突小房。测量液体从咽鼓管咽口滴入至开始排出的间隔时间。高黏度液体的清除时间延长，且从鼓室排出的时间短于从乳突小房排出的时间。为测试肌肉清除功能，电刺激腭帆张肌以模拟吞咽动作，并计算使液体大量排出所需的收缩次数。仅当置于鼓室的液体黏度低时才会出现大量排出，而少量高黏度液体通过线性排出得以清除。作者得出结论，当中耳积液量较少时，液体通过黏液纤毛清除。当积液量较大时，低黏度液体仅通过肌肉清除，而高黏度液体则通过纤毛和肌肉清除。
