Typewriter Tinnitus: Value of ABR as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Indicator.
Huiying Sun, Ruizhe Yang, Hong Jiang and 4 others
PMID 37171375WHAT IT FOUND
In patients with typewriter tinnitus, auditory brainstem response tests showed delayed wave conduction.
This pattern helped distinguish the condition from ordinary tinnitus. Patients with a specific delay over 2.4 milliseconds were more likely to have symptoms return after stopping medication.
Key findings
01Patients with typewriter tinnitus had significantly longer interpeak latency (IPL) I-III and prolonged wave III and V latencies compared to controls with idiopathic unilateral subjective tinnitus.
02All affected ears in the typewriter tinnitus group showed an IPL I-III of ≥2.3 ms, a criterion used to diagnose neurovascular compression.
03Among patients who responded to medication, those who relapsed after stopping had significantly longer IPL I-III and wave V latencies, older age, and poorer hearing levels than those who did not relapse.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and small (18 patients), which limits the generalizability of the findings. Two patients with typewriter tinnitus had no neurovascular contact on MRI, suggesting other causes like inflammation or demyelination may be involved. The cutoff value for predicting relapse (2.4 ms) needs verification in larger studies. Selection and observer bias are inherent in retrospective designs.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding and the Beijing Natural Science Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that all cases of typewriter tinnitus are caused by neurovascular compression requiring surgery or that ABR findings alone confirm this diagnosis. Two patients in this study had no neurovascular contact on MRI, and the condition can also arise from neuroinflammatory or demyelinating diseases.