Tympanic membrane retraction caused by erosion of the ossicles (hearing bones). Discharge from the ear often indicates that the retraction pocket has developed into a cholesteatoma. Three factors must occur for the tympanic membrane to become retracted: When gas pressure within the middle ear is less than atmospheric pressure, the eardrum can become sucked into the middle ear space. This is caused by inadequate opening of the Eustachian tube and absorption of air from the middle ear space. People with a patulous Eustachian tube may also cause negative middle ear pressure by repeatedly sniffing to try to keep their Eustachian tube closed. The
Mastoid part of the temporal bone be distinguished from the mastoid cells, though it communicates with them. Like the mastoid cells it is filled with air and lined by a prolongation of the mucous membrane of the tympanic cavity, with which it communicates. The tympanic antrum is bounded above by a thin plate of bone, the tegmen tympani, which separates it from the middle fossa of the base of the skull; below by the mastoid process; laterally by the squama just below the temporal line, and medially by the lateral semicircular canal of the internal ear which projects into its cavity. It opens in front into