A study of some casts of the infantile pharynx : with special reference to the Eustachian tube ; A note on Eustachian obstruction ; Partial bibliography of recent papers relating to the Eustachian tube / by William C. Braislin.

  • Braislin, William C. (William Coughlin), 1865-1948.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A study of some casts of the infantile pharynx : with special reference to the Eustachian tube ; A note on Eustachian obstruction ; Partial bibliography of recent papers relating to the Eustachian tube / by William C. Braislin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    17/54 (page 15)
    This snapping sound made by the opening of the tube is heard more intensely Avhen the swollen walls of the tube separate on blowing the nose or on autoinflation. In nearly all acute forms of ear diseases this symptom is more or less prominent and it also commonly accompanies exacerba- tions of chronic middle ear inflammation. It is an accom- paniment of involvements of the tube in acute rhinitis and pharyngitis. Its presence in middle ear catarrh and sclero- sis is taken by the writer as a sign of a continuing degenera- tion of the middle ear region, the cause of which should be sought for in the nose, pharynx or tonsils as well as in the tubes. It is a symptom frequently ignored by the patient, especially in chronic cases and must nearly always be in- (juired for, in order to determine its presence or absence. It is never present in normal tubes uor in abnormally patent tubes. It is not a prominent symptom in very markedly obstructed tubes and can not occur in absolute closure of the tubes. It appears to be common in pharyngitis Avith or without involvement of more than the pharyngeal mouths of the Eustachian tubes. It is hence a frequent precursor as well as an accompanying sym])tom of various diseases, though it has been observed to occur at intervals for a long time Avithout the accompaniment of noticeable impairment of hearing. On the appearance of the latter symptom, the occurrence of snapping sounds in cases of gradually pro- gres.sive ear disease may cease or may become less frequent, or the patient may be so used to it that it is rarely com- plained of. This symptom of tubal obstruction (snapping) may con- tinue or recur at intervals in all forms of non-suppurative middle ear diseases. Its irregular recurrence may indicate that these periods of obstruction of the tubes are partially or Avholly responsible for the irregular course of the degene- rati\e changes taking ])laee in the ear. Paracusis. A symptom often comi)lained of in Eustach- ian obstruction, though I belieA'e not pathognomonic, is a sense of fulness in the ears, Avith more or less impairment of