Physical and psychological outcomes of simple sigmoid sinus bony wall repair for pulsatile tinnitus due to sigmoid sinus wall anomalies

Purpose Pulsatile tinnitus (PT) due to sigmoid sinus wall anomalies (SSWA) is a common health disorder. The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of simple sigmoid sinus bony wall repair on tinnitus relief and psychological improvement. Methods Nine cases of PT due to SSWA were retrospectively reviewed. All of these cases had defect of sigmoid sinus bony wall with or without diverticulum in high-resolution CT. The bony defects were repaired by multi-layer materials, i.e., temporalis fascia, bone dust and another layer of bone dust. The assessment of visual analog scale (VAS) of tinnitus and Mandarin version of the tinnitus questionnaire (MTQ) were carried out before operation and at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after operation. Results All of eight cases treated by simple sigmoid sinus bony wall repair reported disappearance or significant relief of PT after operation. The VAS and MTQ scores at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after operation all significantly decreased when compared to that before operation (p < 0.05). Conclusion Simple repair of sigmoid sinus bony wall defects was an effective way to reduce the physical impact as well as the psychological impact of PT due to SSWA. The defect of sigmoid sinus bony wall played a key role in the pathophysiology of PT due to SSWA.