phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:3740 DOI 10.3390/bioengineering11101015 First Investigation of a Eustachian Tube Stent in Experimentally Induced Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Unmet needs in the treatment of chronic otitis media and Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) triggered the development of stents for the Eustachian tube (ET). In this study, for the first time, stents were placed in an artificially blocked ET to evaluate stent function. Eight adult female sheep were injected with stabilized hyaluronic acid (HA) on both sides to induce ETD. Subsequently, a tapered nitinol ET stent was inserted on one side, and animals were examined bilaterally by endoscopy, tympanometry, cone beam computed tomography, and final histology. Seven of the stents were placed in the desired cartilaginous portion of the ET. At the end of the study, one stented side appeared slightly open; all other ET orifices were closed. Tympanometry revealed re-ventilation of the middle ear in four out of seven correctly stented animals within 3 to 6 weeks after stent insertion. The major amount of HA was found at the pharyngeal orifice of the ET anterior to the stent. Thus, the stent position did not completely align with the HA position. While a functional analysis will require refinement of the experimental setup, this study provides first promising results for stent insertion in a sheep model of ETD. eng Hyaluronic Acid Stent Function Nitinol Stent Taoered Stent Eustachian Tube Eustacian Tube Dysfunction ETD Treatment Sheep Self-expandable Metallic Stent 2024-12-10T14:52:26.751Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Schmitt;Katharina; FN:Katharina Schmitt X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7259-3349 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Timm;Malena; FN:Malena Timm END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Krüger;Philipp; FN:Philipp Krüger END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Oppel;Niels; FN:Niels Oppel END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Napp;Alexandra; FN:Alexandra Napp END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Pohl;Friederike; FN:Friederike Pohl END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Schuon;Robert; FN:Robert Schuon X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7596-4566 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Kötter;Lisa; FN:Lisa Kötter END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Bankstahl;Marion; FN:Marion Bankstahl X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5775-188X END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Lenarz;Thomas; FN:Thomas Lenarz X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-5989 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Stein;Tobias; FN:Tobias Stein END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Paasche;Gerrit; FN:Gerrit Paasche END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 application/pdf 4521153 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3740 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:3740/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline