Pathology that strikes one part of the respiratory
mucosa whether lower or upper might
affect the other parts of respiratory tract by varying
degrees of affection. As the eustachian tube
(ET) is considered an extension of the respiratory
mucosa of the upper airway so it was postulated
that affection of the lower respiratory airways
can alter El' physiology. The aim of the present
study was to find if there is any disturbance of
ET functions in asthmatic children. Thirty asthmatic
children were examined by impedance
tests to estimate their ET functions, during the
execerbation of the asthmatic attack, and in between
attacks where they were symptom free.
We found that during attacks of asthma 90% of
them had abnormal functions of their El's while
16.6% of them had affected tubes in between
attacks of asthma. From these results we deduced
that there is a definite relation between asthma
in children and abnormal El' functions in lose
subjects. This relation may be due to the same
allergen that strikes both lower respiratory airway
and ET or due to mediators secreted during
attack of asthma that alter ET function. |
