Pulsatile Tinnitus and Twisted Cartoid Artery

[Amy Cutler]

Hey y'all, I wanted to introduce myself and share what I have going on.

I've had pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear for going on 2 years. A year ago I went to my ENT and saw the PA. They did a hearing test and found I have hearing loss in that ear. She ordered an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. She called me, said the test was fine and gave me a script for steroids.

Fast forward to about 5 months ago. I noticed my vision really changing on that side. I made another appointment with my ENT and requested to actually see him and not a PA. I had my appointment two weeks ago. He pulled out my ultrasound report from last year and there is was plain as day...extremely twisted carotid artery. Not sure how in the world his PA missed it. He said we'd redo the ultrasound and then he'll refer me because the artery will need straightened.

Throughout my research, so much makes sense now. I had a 14 hr long surgery in Oct of 2013. I can remember after the surgery my neck was so, so sore for weeks from the way they had me positioned. In February of 2014 I had another surgery and had a small stroke during it. I'm assuming the first surgery is when my artery twisted, and that caused the stroke during the second surgery.

My question is this...has anyone else had this issue? Did you have surgery to correct it? How did they correct it (stent or resection)? And did your tinnitus go away after that?

Thanks so much in advance y'all!

 

[Amy Cutler]

Going to the vascular surgeon on Monday. I'd love to talk to someone else that has experienced this as well.

 

[glynis]

Good luck Amy,
Let us know how you get on.
Love glynis

 

[Karen]

Hi, Amy,

Good luck with the vascular surgeon, and I would like to hear what you find out from him. I don't have a twisted carotid artery, but I do have unilateral pulsatile tinnitus.

Please update us after the appointment.

Best wishes,
Karen

 

[Amy Cutler]

The dr was very nice and sweet, which I was thankful for. He said he would never just do carotid artery surgery on someone as young as me. He wants me to see a neurologist. If the neurologist says I need the surgery done, then he'll do it. He said I could have been born this way with the artery being tortuous but he has no idea why the symptoms would just now start within the past two years. He said the neurologists can look further into it to see if there are any other genetic abnormalities. As for the constant headaches, being worse at night, he said they need to look into seeing if I'm having seizures while I sleep but again, that isn't his speciality. My appointment with neurology is the end of January.