Abstract:

Purpose: There are several studies supporting that hypercholesterolemia causes inner ear disorders such as hearing loss and tinnitus. Our aim in this study is to investigate the effect of lipid profile levels on high frequency tinnitus. Materials and Methods: Pure tone audiometry, tinnitus pitch matching and tinnitus loudness matching tests were applied to the patients who came to our ENT outpatient clinic with tinnitus complaints between October 2017 and May 2020. The tinnitus group was created from the patients who had tinnitus at high frequencies (2, 4 ve 6 kHz) and whose lipid panel was examined. The control group consisted of patients who applied to the cardiology outpatient clinic for routine examination. The lipid profile of the tinnitus group and the control group was compared and analyzed. Results: There was no statistical difference between the groups in terms of gender and age. When the HDL-C, LDL-C, triglyceride and total cholesterol means of the two groups were compared, a statistically significant difference was found between LDL-C, triglyceride and total cholesterol.. There was no statistically significant difference for HDL-C.. No statistically significant correlation was found between tinnitus loudness and HDL-C, LDL-C, triglyceride and total cholesterol values. Conclusion: Increased LDL-C and triglyceride levels are risk factors for the development of tinnitus at high frequencies. There was no correlation between the level of lipid parameters and the loudness of tinnitus. Lipid profile of patients with high frequency tinnitus should be examined routinely.