Main

Attanasio G, Leonardi A et al. J Craniomaxillofac Surg 2015; 43: 724–727

Over 80 years ago, James B Costen who was an otolaryngologist included tinnitus as a component in his once famous syndrome. In this study, the investigators recruited 86 consecutive patients with tinnitus but without hearing impairment. For 55 of this original cohort of patients only, measurements for tinnitus (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory) and other symptoms were assessed using a VAS scale. In those patients with TMD (n=35), there was a decrease in Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and VAS values following treatment with a splint worn for 8-15 hours each day. A possible explanation could be that there is a close anatomical relationship between the 'second branch of the trigeminal nerve and the dorsal cocklear nucleus'. This eponymous syndrome is seldom now referred to, as associations were made between occlusal perturbations such as overclosure and the signs and symptoms of TMD.