Tinnitus caused by vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia

A 73-year old man presented with the tinnitus in the left ear for 11 months. Computer tomography (CT) showed an enlarged dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain shows dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery and the initial part of the basilar artery. Multi-slices computer tomographic (MSCT) angiography showed an enlarged vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia of the left vertebral artery, which compressed the vestibulocochlear nerve. This study supports a vascular compression of cranial vestibulocochlear nerve and the brainstem as a cause of tinnitus, and demonstrates a MSCT angiography value as an excellent, non-invasive technique to demonstrate the compression (Fig. 1, Ref. 20).