Objective tinnitus associated with abnormal mastoid emissary vein

Abstract

Tinnitus may be defined as the perception of sound in the absence of environmental input. It can be subjective. Objective tinnitus may be caused by clearly definable mechanical or vascular abnormalities, and as such may be amenable to specific management. We report a case of objective tinnitus associated with an abnormal mastoid emissary vein. A review of the literature identified only one other report of objective tinnitus associated with an emissary vein. That report involved a posterior condylar emissary vein. The venous drainage of the sigmoid sinus was studied on 50 human skulls demonstrating three possible emissary veins of each sigmoid sinus. The postauricular region was dopplered on 30 asymptomatic human subjects. None was found to have dopplered emissary vein flow.