I Sziklai, T. Toth, J Szilvassy, A. Toth

ENT Dept., Medical and Health Science Center, University of Debrecen,
Debrecen, Hungary

Background: Presbycusis associates frequently with tinnitus. Tinnitus may be due to the same pathology which leads to the sensorineural hearing loss. The presbycusis classified upon the basis of the Schuknecht’s category’s may also permit an insight into the pathogenesis of the development of tinnitus in these cases.

Methods: Fifty presbycusis patients (age >50 yrs) with tinnitus were treated by piracetam (3 g) i.v. . Before the treatment and after treatment pure tone thresholds were measured as well as intensity and pitch of tinnitus.

Results: In 28 cases the tinnitus was improved or disappeared simultaneously with improvement in hearing. The responsive tinnitus did not show any characteristic association to pitch as to low (<1000 Hz) or high (>1000 Hz). Interestingly, those patients were better responding to piracetam therapy who developed sensorineural hearing loss of stria vascularis origin associated with tinnitus (8 improvements out of 12 cases)
Conclusion: Tinnitus associated to sensorineural hearing loss of presbycusis patients classified to stria vascularis origin are better responding to piracetam therapy than those of receptor cell or ganglion cell damage of origin.