Short-term changes in tinnitus pitch related to audiometric shape in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is frequently accompanied by tinnitus. This study investigated the relationships between new-onset tinnitus and audiometric parameters in SSNHL patients. METHODS Sixty-one patients with SSNHL with new-onset tinnitus were enrolled. Changes of tinnitus pitch, and their correlations with the maximum hearing loss frequency (Fmax) and the edge frequency (Fedge) at initial and 1-month follow-up (FU) were analyzed. RESULTS At 1-month FU, tinnitus disappeared in 16 (26%) patients and they also showed hearing normalization. In 36 patients who still showed tonal tinnitus, the mean tinnitus pitch (2.9 kHz) at initial examination, which was close to Fedge (2.7 kHz), increased to a significantly higher frequency (4.6 kHz) at 1-month examination, which was close to Fmax (5.6 kHz). The tinnitus pitch had a more significant correlation with Fedge (r=0.46) than with Fmax (r=0.33) at initial examination and the tinnitus pitch showed a significant correlation only with Fmax (r=0.52) at 1-month examination. CONCLUSIONS Hearing normalization was crucial for the disappearance of tinnitus at 1-month FU. Patients who still had tonal tinnitus at 1-month FU showed the tinnitus pitch closer to the edge frequency (Fedge) at initial examination, and this tinnitus pitch increased to the maximum hearing loss frequency (Fmax) at 1-month FU. This change in tinnitus pitch may give insight about tinnitus generation.

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