Authors: Punte, Andrea Kleine¹; Vermeire, Katrien²; Hofkens, Anouk¹; De Bodt, Marc¹; De Ridder, Dirk³; Van de Heyning, Paul¹

Source: Cochlear Implants International, Volume 12, Supplement 1, May 2011 , pp. S26-S29

Publisher: Maney Publishing

Abstract:

Introduction:

Severe tinnitus can seriously impair patients in their activities in daily life and reduce their quality of life. The aims of this prospective clinical study were to assess the long-term effects of cochlear implantation (CI) on tinnitus in patients with single-sided deafness and ipsilateral incapacitating tinnitus, and to investigate whether CI could treat various types of tinnitus.

Materials and methods:

Twenty-six subjects with unilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss received a CI. Patients suffered from severe tinnitus greater than 6/10 on a visual analogue scale (VAS) due to unilateral deafness. Assessment consisted of a tinnitus analysis including determination of tinnitus type, frequency, and loudness. A tinnitus questionnaire (TQ) measured tinnitus distress. VAS and TQ were administered pre-implantation and post-implantation.

Results:

All 26 patients reported a subjective benefit from CI. Tinnitus loudness reduced significantly after CI from 8.6 to 2.2 on the VAS (scale: 0?10). The TQ total score decreased significantly and the mean tinnitus degree decreased from severe to mild. No differences were observed between patients with pure-tone tinnitus, narrow band noise tinnitus, or polyphonic tinnitus. The degree of tinnitus loudness reduction remained stable after CI.

Conclusions:

CI can successfully be used as treatment of severe tinnitus in patients with single-sided deafness and is equally effective for pure tone, narrow band noise, and polyphonic tinnitus. Long-term results show that implantation provides durable tinnitus relief in these patients. These results support the hypothesis that physiopathological mechanisms after peripheral deafferentation are reversible when hearing is restored. Single-sided deafness accompanied by severe tinnitus is a new indication for CI.

Keywords: cochlear implantation; single-sided deafness; tinnitus

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/146701011X13001035752336

Affiliations: 1: Antwerp University Hospital, University of Antwerp, Belgium 2: Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, Austria 3: Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium

Publication date: 2011-05-01

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