Introduction  Tinnitus has been defined as an “auditory phantom perception,” meaning that tinnitus results from an abnormal activity within the nervous system, in the absence of any internal or external acoustic stimulation. About 10 to 15% of the adult population is affected by tinnitus, and a relevant percentage of tinnitus sufferers experience symptoms severe enough to significantly affect quality of life, including sleep disturbances, work impairment, and, in some cases, psychiatric distress. The self-rated complaints about tinnitus focus on emotional distress, auditory perceptual difficulties, and sleep disturbances. Objectives  To evaluate the works that show sleep disorders in patients with tinnitus, and sleep disorders assessed by polysomnography. Data Synthesis  We found four studies with polysomnography to assess sleep disorders in patients with tinnitus. The first study evaluated 80 patients who were military personnel without major psychiatric disturbances, and their tinnitus was associated with noise-induced permanent hearing. The second study was a prospective, case-control, nonrandomized study of 18 patients affected by chronic tinnitus who were compared with a homogeneous control group consisting of 15 healthy subjects. The last work evaluated questionnaires mailed to patients before their initial appointment at the Oregon Health Sciences University Tinnitus Clinic between 1994 and 1997. These questionnaires requested information pertaining to insomnia, tinnitus severity, and loudness. Follow-up questionnaires were mailed to 350 patients 1 to 4 years (mean 5 ± 2.3 years) after their initial appointment at the clinic. Conclusion  There are few studies with polysomnography for the evaluation of patients with sleep disorders caused by tinnitus. This shows the need for more studies on this subject.

Objectives: Tinnitus is an auditory sensation in the absence of any external stimulus. It has a negative impact on quality of life and interferes with concentration, sleep, social activities, and even emotional stability. The aim of this study was to compare sleep architecture in patients with and without chronic subjective tinnitus. Methods: This was an observational, noninterventional, and prospective study. The sample consisted of 50 individuals of both sexes aged 20 to 60 years. Twenty-five patients with tinnitus constituted the study group, and for comparison, a control group consisting of 25 patients without reported tinnitus was formed. The patients underwent polysomnography and were administered the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, and visual analog scales. Results: The group with tinnitus had higher mean values in sleep stages 1 and 2, and lower mean values in stage 3 and in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, compared with the control group, and this difference was significant only for REM sleep (P = .031). This demonstrates that patients with tinnitus remained longer in shallow sleep and spent less time in deep sleep (stage 3) and REM sleep. Conclusions: This study shows that patients with tinnitus have significant alterations in REM sleep latency as well as the REM sleep phase.

Introduction  Acromegaly is a chronic disease caused by growth hormone (GH) excess due to a GH-secreting pituitary adenoma in most cases. There is reasonable data to presume the possible influence of chronic GH and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) hyperproduction on the anatomical structures involved in normal sound perception, and on its conductive and/or sensorineural part. Objectives  To review the literature about acromegaly and hearing loss. Data Synthesis  A systematic literature search was performed using the MEDLINE database, including hand-searching reference lists from original articles. The search was performed using the terms hearing loss and acromegaly , and only 5 studies were found. Conclusion  The results are not consistent, but led to different conclusions. Therefore, more studies with greater numbers of patients with acromegaly are needed.

Meniere's disease is a disorder of the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear manifesting as vertigo, tinnitus, sensory neural hearing loss and aural fullness of known or unknown origin. The aim of this chapter is to estimate the prevalence of Ménière's disease (MD) and its relationship with demographic factors, symptoms and conditions that are known. Few articles have been published on the epidemiology of Meniere's disease from 1975 to 1990, studies from Japan indicated a fairly constant prevalence of 17 cases per 100,000 population. These studies were undertaken by a Research Committee on Meniere's Disease. Kotimaki and colleagues analysed the Finnish population of five million people between 1992 and 1996. A prevalence of 43/100,000 and an average yearly incidence of 4.3/100,000 population were found by the authors. MD is 1-3 times higher in women than in men and also observed a higher prevalence in adulthood and white people. MD seems to be much more common in white adults with higher body mass index categories, in their fourth and fifth decade. However, in recent years, especially in the last decades, there have been several safe and effective medical and surgical therapies for the treatment of the disease and its sequels.

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