Specialists at Valley Health System are skilled in diagnosing and treating pulsatile tinnitus. One of these treatments – endovascular stenting – can be especially successful. Some patients report instant relief from the disturbing whooshing.
If you have experienced this noise, you may have had your ears, eyes, or other organs evaluated. You may have had testing or other treatments to mask the whooshing or to help you relax or “tune out” the noise with behavioral therapies. Although these treatments may be helpful to some extent, they are not getting to the underlying source of the noise. You may have been told to “live with” pulsatile tinnitus, but there are solutions at Valley.
You do not need a referral to be evaluated here; you may refer yourself by calling our nurse navigator at 201-447-8647.
How Will My Pulsatile Tinnitus Be Diagnosed?
If you are a new patient, your Valley physician will first use a stethoscope to listen to the blood flow in your head. A careful medical history will help us learn when the whooshing started and how badly it is affecting you. You may be referred for an MRI or CT scan of your head to determine your precise anatomy.
We may also consult with an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat specialists), neurologist, neuro-ophthalmologist (eye specialist), rheumatologist, or hematologist to understand what has caused the noise and what areas have been affected by it.
What Is Endovascular Stenting and How Will It Eliminate the Noise?
One the most effective treatments for pulsatile tinnitus is minimally invasive endovascular stenting. Endovascular means a procedure that is non-surgical but is performed through blood vessels using thin, flexible catheters and fluoroscopic X-ray guidance to help the physician “see” inside the blood vessels. The physician then uses micro-instruments inside the catheter to treat the source of a medical problem.
If you are a candidate for endovascular stenting to treat pulsatile tinnitus, you will already have had an MRI or CT scan to identify the cause of the whooshing. If the source is a narrowed artery or vein near your ear, an interventional neurosurgeon makes a small opening in either the radial artery in the wrist or a vein in the elbow to gain access to a blood vessel. A catheter is threaded from the opening to the area of treatment, where a tiny stent, acting like a scaffold, is placed to open up the narrowed blood vessel and smooth out the blood flow to stop the whooshing.
If the noise is due to an aneurysm (bulge in an artery) or arteriovenous malformation (AVM), a tangle of blood vessels, the neurosurgeon can address these conditions with an endovascular procedure through an artery, using special micro-instruments and coils to stop an aneurysm from becoming larger or to remove an AVM.
What Happens After My Procedure?
You will be observed or may stay overnight in Valley’s neuroscience intensive care unit for monitoring by our “brain squad”—doctors, nurses, and other professionals with advanced training in critical care and neurological disorders.
Your neurosurgeon will develop an aftercare plan for you that may include blood work or a CT scan of your brain, and visits to your neurosurgeon or other doctors.
Valley Hospital System participates in the national NeuroVascular Quality Initiative-Quality Outcomes Database (NVQI-QOD). This database tracks outcomes for every endovascular neurosurgery procedure that is performed at Valley and other participating hospitals. Our Valley data confirms we continuously meet or exceed strict clinical criteria related to patient safety and quality, including length of stay in the hospital, complication rates, and more.
For more information, please call 201-447-8647.
