Abstract
Purpose: Tinnitus is along with tension-type headache that will influence the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and accelerate the tinnitus severity. However, the potential associations between tension-type headache and tinnitus is still unknown. The current study will explore whether abnormal CBF exists in tinnitus patients and examine the effects of headache on CBF in tinnitus patients.Materials and Methods: Resting-state perfusion magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 40 chronic tinnitus patients and 50 healthy controls using pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling. Regions with CBF differences between tinnitus patients and healthy controls were investigated. The effects of headache on tinnitus for CBF changes were further explored. Correlation analyses revealed the relationship between CBF values and tinnitus distress as well as CBF values and headache degree.Results: Relative to healthy controls, chronic tinnitus showed decreased CBF, mainly in right superior temporal gyrus (STG), left middle frontal gyrus (MFG), and left superior frontal gyrus (SFG); the CBF in the right STG and the left MFG was negatively correlated with THQ scores (r = −0.553, p = 0.001; r = −0.399, p = 0.017). We also observed a significant effect of headache on tinnitus for CBF in the right STG. Furthermore, the headache degree was correlated positively with tinnitus distress (r = 0.594, p = 0.020).Conclusion: Decreased CBF in auditory and prefrontal cortex was observed in chronic tinnitus patients. Headache may accelerate CBF reductions in tinnitus, which may form the basis for the neurological mechanism in chronic tinnitus with tension-type headache.
Highlights
Tinnitus, defined as perception of sounds in the absence of external stimuli, has become a pervasive public health issue frequently accompanied with hearing loss, hyperacusis, and related anxious and depressive symptoms [1, 2]
No significant differences were detected in the brain gray matter (GM) volume, white matter (WM) volume and parenchyma volume between chronic tinnitus and healthy controls (Table 1)
We observed no significant differences of whole-brain volumes between tinnitus patients with headache and without headache
Summary
Tinnitus, defined as perception of sounds in the absence of external stimuli, has become a pervasive public health issue frequently accompanied with hearing loss, hyperacusis, and related anxious and depressive symptoms [1, 2]. 12–30% of the general population experiences tinnitus worldwide, and brings great social and economic burden to the country [3, 4]. Almost 26–47% of tinnitus patients accompanied with headache [5]. The relationship between tinnitus and headache has been reported in previous studies [5,6,7]. Headache may be a risk factor that plays a critical role for tinnitus-related impairment. The potential associations between tinnitus and headache remains elusive
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