Endoscopic findings at the pharyngeal orifice of the eustachian tube in otitis media with effusion.

Transnasal endoscopy of the pharyngeal orifice of the eustachian tube was performed on 155 ears with otitis media with effusion (77 ears of children, 78 ears of adults). In children, blockage of the orifice by mucopurulent nasal discharge was the most frequent finding (72.7%), followed by compression of the orifice by the adenoid tissue (52.0%), hypertrophy of the peritubal tonsil (16.9%), and edema around the orifice, especially at its posterior lip (10.4%). In adults, the most frequent abnormal finding was edema of the orifice (26.9%), followed by blockage of the orifice by mucopurulent nasal discharge (23.1%), and atrophy of the orifice (10.3%). In 39.7% of cases findings were normal. Thus, main pathological findings associated with tubal dysfunction involved inflammation in the nasopharynx.