OTITIC BAROTRAUMA:
SEROUS TRANSUDATE POST VALSALVA
| Description |
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This is the patient shown in the previous photograph after performing the Valsalva Maneuver. The middle ear was reaerated and most of the fluid has been displaced.
The eustachian tube can be considered functionally as a flutter valve allowing air to flow passively from the middle ear into the nasopharynx. This flutter valve must be opened actively by the contraction of the muscles of the palate in order to allow the passage of air in the reverse direction, ie, from the nasopharynx into the middle ear. |
