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Case Reports
. 2008 Sep;12(3):242-53.
doi: 10.1177/1084713808321185. Epub 2008 Jul 16.

Somatosensory pulsatile tinnitus syndrome: somatic testing identifies a pulsatile tinnitus subtype that implicates the somatosensory system

Robert Aaron Levine  1 , Eui-Cheol Nam, Jennifer Melcher
Affiliations
Case Reports

Somatosensory pulsatile tinnitus syndrome: somatic testing identifies a pulsatile tinnitus subtype that implicates the somatosensory system

Robert Aaron Levine et al. Trends Amplif. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

A new tinnitus syndrome is described: high-pitched, cardiac-synchronous tinnitus, whose pulsations are suppressed by strong contractions or compressions of the neck and jaw muscles (somatic testing). 14 cases, 6 non-lateralized and 8 unilateral, are reported. In the non-lateralized cases, onset was bilateral. In the one intermittent case, while her tinnitus was absent her pulsatile tinnitus could be induced by somatic testing. No etiology was found from physical examination, imaging, or ancillary testing. Because these cases of pulsatile tinnitus can be both induced and suppressed by activation of the somatosensory system of the head or upper lateral neck, we propose that this syndrome is occurring from (a) cardiac synchronous somatosensory activation of the central auditory pathway or (b) failure of the somatosensory-auditory central nervous system interactions to suppress cardiac somatosounds.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Simultaneous recordings of (a) sound from left ear canal and (b) EKG in patient B1.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Schematic depiction of cardiac modulation of the somatosensory system leading to pulsatile tinnitus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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