Long-Term Outcomes of Stenting for Pulsatile Tinnitus Caused by Cerebral Venous Sinus Stenosis

Objective To investigate the long-term outcomes of stenting for isolated pulsatile tinnitus (PT) caused by cerebral venous sinus stenosis. Study Design Retrospective study. Setting The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital. Patients Patients diagnosed to have isolated PT secondary to cerebral venous sinus stenosis at our institution between December 2009 and March 2023. Intervention Cerebral venous sinus stenting. Main Outcome Measure(s) Morphological features of the cerebral venous sinus, endovascular technique, and clinical outcomes. Results The study included 80 patients with a mean age of 39.4 ± 9.6 years and an average body mass index of 23.9 kg/m. The mean age at symptom onset was 35.1 ± 8.7 years. Seventy-five of the patients (93.8%) were women. PT was the primary symptom. All patients reported feeling anxious because PT had severely affected their day-to-day lives. The PT was right-sided in 52 cases (65%). All procedures were technically successful. The mean trans-stenotic pressure gradient decreased from 4.3 ± 3.3 mm Hg before stenting to 0.4 ± 0.9 mm Hg after stent placement. Twenty-one patients (26.3%) experienced poststenting headache. The mean follow-up duration was 80.5 ± 46.3 months, with 26 patients followed for over 120 months. PT resolved in all cases after stenting, and there were no recurrences. Follow-up radiographic examination of 23 patients (28.8%) at a mean of 71.2 ± 43.1 months identified only one case of restenosis. Conclusions Long-term follow-up of these patients confirmed the efficacy and safety of stenting for isolated venous sinus stenosis–related PT.