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Middle Ear Contents

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Comprehensive and Clinical Anatomy of the Middle Ear

Abstract

Traditionally, the ossicular chain is considered as the essential content of the middle ear. It is suspended inside the cavity by ligaments and muscles, which will be addressed in their embryological development and their anatomical details in this chapter.

Nowadays, it is admitted in middle ear mechanics that the most important content of the middle ear to assure a normal sound transmission, in addition to the ossicular chain, is gas (air).

The tympanic cavity contains an average of 2 cc of air. The minimal volume of air necessary for a normal function of the middle ear is at least 0.5 cc. Air transmits the sound wave from outside to the tympanic membrane and inside the middle ear to both the oval and the round windows. Air in the middle ear serves also as an insulator. When air of the middle ear is replaced by an effusion, hearing loss will result due to the reduction of pressure difference of the sound wave in between the oval window and the round window with an escape of sound energy to the surrounding bony structures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital Sacre Coeur ORL Chirurgie Cervico - Faciale, Lebanese University, Baabda, Lebanon

    Salah Mansour MD, FRCSC

  2. ORL Chirurgie Cervico - Faciale, Hôpital Trad, Beirut, Lebanon

    Salah Mansour MD, FRCSC

  3. ORL - Chirurgie Cervico - Faciale, University Aix-Marseille Hôpital Nord, Marseille, France

    Jacques Magnan MD, PhD

  4. ORL - Chirurgie Cervico - Faciale, Hôpital Nord, Marseille, France

    Hassan Haidar MD, ABORL

  5. Department of Radiology Middle East Institute of Health, Bsalim Levant Clinics, Fachaerztin fuer Radiologische Diagnostik Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Karen Nicolas MD

  6. Department of Radiology, Levant Clinics, Sinn el Fil, Lebanon

    Karen Nicolas MD

  7. Laboratoire d` Anatomie Biomécanique et Organogenèse, Université Libre de Bruxelles Faculté de Médecine, Brussels, Belgium

    Stéphane Louryan MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Salah Mansour MD, FRCSC
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  2. Jacques Magnan MD, PhD
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  3. Hassan Haidar MD, ABORL
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  4. Karen Nicolas MD
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  5. Stéphane Louryan MD, PhD
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Mansour, S., Magnan, J., Haidar, H., Nicolas, K., Louryan, S. (2013). Middle Ear Contents. In: Comprehensive and Clinical Anatomy of the Middle Ear. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36967-4_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36967-4_3

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