A Case of Pulsatile Tinnitus from the Atherosclerosis and Atheroma in Superior Labial Artery and Facial Artery

Abstract

Tinnitus is one of the most common symptoms in an audiologic field. It can be classified as either as subjective or objective; former referring to the sensation heard by both patient and examiner. Pulsatile tinnitus is perceived as sounds that vary in frequency, intensity and duration. The cause of pulsatile tinnitus include high jugular bulb, benign intracranial hypertension, glomus tumors, carotid artery stenosis, vascular lesions of the temporal bone, arteriovenous malformation, aneurysms, and Arnold-Chiari malformation. Vascular tinnitus is most common (7.6%). Recently, the authors experienced one case of the pulsatile tinnitus caused by atherosclerosis and atheroma in superior labial artery & facial artery. After surgery, the symptom had disappeared. We report a unique case regarding the objective tinnitus with the literature review.

Atheroma of the facial artery mimicking a parotid gland tumor

“…[1] In the head and neck region, an atheroma can occur either in the common carotid artery at the bifurcation of the internal carotid artery and the external carotid artery or in their branches. [1] There have been few reports of an atheroma associated with calcification mimicking tumors [2–5] ; however, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an atheroma mimicking a parotid gland tumor. Herein, we report an extremely rare case of an atheroma arising from the facial artery, mimicking a parotid gland tumor.…”