Pulsatile Tinnitus and Therapeutic Embolization

Abstract

Fifteen patients with disabling pulse-synchronous tinnitus were investigated with super-selective angiography demonstrating an arteriovenous malformation in 8 cases, chemodectoma of the jugular bulb in 3, and a local arterial stenosis in one case. In 12 of these cases the murmur could be registered objectively, while in the 3 cases with a negative angiographic finding no such murmur could be heard, an observation which may be of importance when selecting patients for further angiographic examination. The cases with a tumour and those with an arteriovenous malformation were all treated with gelatin sponge embolization. The immediate effect on the tinnitus was good in all cases and lasted more than 2 months in 75% of the cases. No serious side effects were registered. In selected cases embolization is recommended alone or in combination with surgery.