Incidence of Retrocochlear Pathology Found on MRI in Patients With Non-Pulsatile Tinnitus.

摘要

Imaging should be used judiciously in the evaluation of tinnitus. Patients with unilateral tinnitus and asymmetric hearing loss were most likely to have abnormal findings. The majority of MRIs performed for tinnitus were normal in our study. Given the low incidence of MRI findings in the workup of tinnitus, every effort should be made to optimize screening protocols. Noncontrasted fast spin-echo T2-weighted MRI should be used to assess patients with tinnitus when there is low suspicion for retrocochlear pathology. Patients with unilateral non-pulsatile tinnitus with symmetric hearing may be observed, but clinical judgement should determine the need for further imaging.