Eustachian tube function in 28 young-adult cleft palate patients was compared with that of 28 young-adult noncleft control subjects using the sound conduction method of Perlman. A 200-Hz tone was delivered to one nostril while a condenser microphone with an attached probe tube was inserted into one external auditory canal. Subjects were asked to swallow repeatedly, and the output of the microphone was amplified and led to a powerlevel recorder.
Results indicate that poorer than normal eustachian tube function is not characteristic of cleft palate, per se, at least not in the young adult age group. Eustachian tube malfunction does appear, however, to be related to observed pharyngeal wall activity, in both cleft and noncleft subjects.