Items tagged “middle ear”

Acquired cholesteatomas make up 98% of all middle ear cholesteatomas and are almost always closely related to the tympanic membrane and pneumatized portion of the temporal bone from which most are thought to arise 9.  Clinical presentation The vast majority of acquired cholesteatomas develop a...

Middle ear effusions are frequent in children due to prominent adenoids and horizontal Eustachian tubes. These do not require imaging and can be treated expectantly / medically / surgically with tympanostomy tubes. Eustachian tube dysfunction is the accepted etiology, with resorption of air and ...

The fissula ante fenestram (plural: fissula ante fenestras) is a small connective tissue-filled cleft in the otic capsule of the temporal bone, not typically visible on CT. The area around the fissula ante fenestram is the usual origin of fenestral otosclerosis. Gross anatomy The fissula ante ...

The tensor tympani muscle is a short muscle in the middle ear that arises from the superior surface of the cartilaginous part of the Eustachian tube, the greater wing of the sphenoid, and the petrous part of the temporal bone. It passes into the protympanum of the tympanic cavity, covered by the...

A useful mnemonic to remember innervation of the muscles of the middle ear is: ST Mnemonic S: stapedius is supplied by a branch of the facial nerve - the Seventh cranial nerve. It is also the Smallest muscle in the body, and inserts onto the neck of Stapes. T: tensor tympani is supplied by a...

The anterior epitympanic recess, also known as the supratubal recess, is a small discrete space in the epitympanum anterior to the malleus. It is separated from the epitympanum proper by the cog.  

The suspensory ligaments of the middle ear ossicles are ligaments within the middle ear which attach the ossicles to the walls of the mesotympanum 1. The ligaments help the ossicles transmit sound from the tympanic membrane to the oval window. Gross anatomy Origins and insertions of the suspen...