Table 1. Frequency of causes of pulsatile tinnitus.
| Location | Cause | Absolute frequency | Relative frequency | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dietz 1994 (15) | Herraiz 2007 (4) | Mattox 2008 (6) | Sismanis 1998 (24) | Sonmez 2007 (26) | Waldvogel 1998 (18) | Pooled data from columns 1 to 6 | Authors’ own patient data | ||
| Arterial | Stenoses | 2 | 15 | 13 | 24 | 16 | 17 | 18% | 9% |
| Aneurysms | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1% | 4% | |
| Anatomical variants/abnormalities | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4% | 1% | |
| Arteriovenous transition | Dural arteriovenous fistulas | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 7% | 8% |
| Direct arteriovenous fistulas | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2% | 3% | |
| Arteriovenous malformations | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1% | |
| Vessel-rich tumors | 5 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 6% | 16% | |
| Capillary hyperemia | 0 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3% | 8% | |
| Venous | Intracranial hypertension | 0 | 8 | 1 | 61 | 0 | 6 | 16% | 8% |
| Anatomical variants/abnormalities | 5 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 12% | 14% | |
| Other | Semicircular canal dehiscence | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 5% |
| Other | 0 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 8% | 4% | |
| Unknown | 21 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 24 | 27 | 23% | 20% | |
| Total | 49 | 80 | 54 | 145 | 74 | 84 | |||