The anatomy of the eustachian tube in the rat: a macro- and microscopical study.

The rat eustachian tube (ET), from the nasopharyngeal orifice to the tympanal orifice, is about 4.5 mm long, of which the naso-medial membranous part (the nasopharyngeal orifice) measures about 1.5 mm and the occipito-lateral bony portion about 3 mm. The nasopharyngeal orifice is surrounded by two soft, lip-like, mucosal swellings--one ventral and one cranial--both easily mobile. The muscles related to the tubal opening mechanisms are the salpingopharyngeus, the tensor veli palatini and the levator veli palatini muscles. The salpingopharyngeus muscle originates partly from the cranial lip, whereas the palatal muscles originate partly from the ventral lip. The tympanal two thirds of the mucosal lining of the ET is cranially guided by a cartilage and incompletely framed by bony structures. The tympanal orifice is situated in the nasal part of the medial wall, well above the floor of the bulla. The tensor tympani muscle does not seem to take part in the opening and closing mechanisms of the ET. The mucosal lining of the ET consists of a respiratory epithelium with numerous glands in the lamina propria. It is suggested that the tubal muscles control the passage through the ET by moving the lip-like folds of the nasopharyngeal orifice. The anatomy of the rat ET is comparable to that described in Homo and it can be concluded that the rat ET might be a good model for studying the function of the human ET.