Eustachian Tube Growth and Development: Anatomy/Function. Protocol Description. This study measures Eustachian tube function and facial growth over time in three groups of children: one with recurrent ear infections, one with chronic middle ear fluid, and one with little past history of otitis media.
Causes of Kartagener syndrome. Kartagener syndrome is caused by a mutation in the DNAI1 gene, which makes a cellular protein required for normal functioning cilia (cilia line the respiratory tract) and sperm motility.
Pathophysiology. Camner and coworkers first suggested ciliary dyskinesia as the cause of Kartagener syndrome in 1975. They described 2 patients with Kartagener syndrome who had immotile cilia and immotile spermatozoa. These patients had poor mucociliary clearance because the cilia that lined their upper airways were not functioning.