Sensology

This preliminary report is an account of 21 consecutive patients who had tinnitus of the severe disabling type and were examined with quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG).

This study was conducted in an attempt to determine the efficacy of neurofeedback (NFB) in the treatment of patients suffering from vertigo or tinnitus. Results indicated that after NFB, power for delta and theta bands was reduced; however, an increase of power was noted for the alpha bands.

The tinnitus can be functionally measured and localized through sensorymotor and neurosensorial tests. According to our Data Bank, 60% of the patients requiring a consultation show cardiocirculatory background. This figure has moved us to study cerebral vascular processes on those patients consulting only on tinnitus symptom.

Distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) is a widely used differential diagnostic method for diagnosing inner ear disorders. It provides us information on the condition of the outer hearing cells (OHCs).

During the last half century, medical developments have expedited an increase of expectation of life, all over the world. This extension of life has made that some pathologies that in former years were considered of low prevalence, nowadays they have become top priority for public health.

Tinnitus as a symptom remains a serious multidisciplinary problem. Vertigo or dizziness is not noticed frequently in tinnitus patients, so vestibular function is not often studied.

Some new therapies for tinnitus employ bone-conducted sound in the high audio and ultrasonic frequencies, but there has been little previous research on sound transmission through the head at these frequencies.

Cochlear implantation has been performed for 16 years by investigators at Semmelweis University. During this period, different types of cochlear implants have been used and, in 30% of cases, hearing was observed to be restored in the nonimplanted ear.

For assessment of safety, it is necessary to measure the maximum possible force exerted by a bone conduction device coupled to the human head.

In this report, we summarize our clinical experience with intratympanic dexamethasone treatment (IDT) for control of tinnitus.