ArticleScientific reports2023
Results of Eustachian tube balloon dilation measured using the nine-step test.
Article in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Outcomes of combined tympanoplasty and eustachian tuboplasty versus tympanoplasty alone: A systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Balloon Dilation for Chronic Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Under Local and General Anesthesia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-facialePooled it
- Sinonasal Inflammatory Burden on Computed Tomography in Adults With Obstructive Eustachian Tube Dysfunction: A Case-Control Study.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- Office-Based LA-BET Without Sedation or Nerve Block: Prospective Evaluation of a Simplified Local Anesthesia Protocol.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Suggested several decades ago, the nine-step test is an intuitive test of Eustachian tube function. However, studies employing the nine-step test to assess the results of Eustachian tube balloon dilation (EBD) are limited. We aimed to objectively evaluate the efficacy of EBD in opening failure patients with decreased maximal peak pressure difference (MPD) using the nine-step test. Patients who had MPD values ≤ 13 daPa in the nine-step test were enrolled. The patients were categorized into two groups according to treatment decisions after discussion with a clinician: an EBD group (N = 26) and a medication group (N = 30). One month after treatment, the seven-item Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire (ETDQ7) and the nine-step test were administered to all participants and subgroups of symptomatic participants (ETDQ7 > 15). MPD improved (increased) in both the EBD group and the medication group. ETDQ7 values improved (decreased) in the EBD group, but not in the medication group. In subgroup analysis, MPD and ETDQ7 values improved only in the symptomatic EBD group. According to the nine-step test, EBD can normalize 53.8% of decreased MPD. Posttreatment MPD and ETDQ7 scores were significantly better in the EBD group than in the medication group. However, EBD in patients with abnormal nine-step test results seemed less efficacious when the treatment results of the medication group were considered.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.