TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison between the feeling of ear fullness and tinnitus in acute sensorineural hearing loss
AU - Sakata, Toshifumi
AU - Esaki, Yoshito
AU - Yamano, Takafumi
AU - Sueta, Naoyuki
AU - Nakagawa, Takashi
PY - 2008/3
Y1 - 2008/3
N2 - The feeling of ear fullness (FEF) occurs frequently in patients with acute sensorineural hearing loss; the same is true for tinnitus (TIN). However, the cause of FEF in these patients is unclear. This study included 171 ears of patients admitted with unilateral sudden deafness to the ENT division of Fukuoka University Hospital between January 2001 and December 2004. The results showed TIN was mainly associated with worse high-frequency hearing thresholds, where hearing loss was relatively severe, and this association became stronger after the hearing threshold stabilized. FEF was associated with the low-frequency region, where hearing loss was relatively mild, and this association disappeared after the hearing threshold stabilized. In conclusion, TIN is thought to originate in the region where hair cells are impaired; in contrast, FEF may originate from some functional factor rather than an organic lesion of the cochlea.
AB - The feeling of ear fullness (FEF) occurs frequently in patients with acute sensorineural hearing loss; the same is true for tinnitus (TIN). However, the cause of FEF in these patients is unclear. This study included 171 ears of patients admitted with unilateral sudden deafness to the ENT division of Fukuoka University Hospital between January 2001 and December 2004. The results showed TIN was mainly associated with worse high-frequency hearing thresholds, where hearing loss was relatively severe, and this association became stronger after the hearing threshold stabilized. FEF was associated with the low-frequency region, where hearing loss was relatively mild, and this association disappeared after the hearing threshold stabilized. In conclusion, TIN is thought to originate in the region where hair cells are impaired; in contrast, FEF may originate from some functional factor rather than an organic lesion of the cochlea.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=40049088320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=40049088320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14992020701760547
DO - 10.1080/14992020701760547
M3 - Article
C2 - 18307093
AN - SCOPUS:40049088320
VL - 47
SP - 134
EP - 140
JO - International Journal of Audiology
JF - International Journal of Audiology
SN - 1499-2027
IS - 3
ER -