Direct measurement of middle ear pressure through the eustachian tube.

We report a method for measuring middle ear pressure through the eustachian tube. We used a 1-mm-diameter micro-tip catheter pressure transducer (Mikro-tip) and inserted this into the tympanic cavity through the eustachian tube. In preliminary studies, we measured four normal ears, two ears with tubal dysfunction, one ear with a dry perforation and 13 ears with otitis media with effusion (OME). Among those ears with OME, three showed negative middle ear pressure, three slight positive pressure and one normal pressure. These findings suggest that our transtubal method is reliable and useful for measuring middle ear pressure.