Surgery – Controlled release therapeutic device or system – Implanted dynamic device or system
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-27
2003-12-02
Kennedy, Sharon (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Controlled release therapeutic device or system
Implanted dynamic device or system
C128S898000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06656172
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for treating severe tinnitus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tinnitus is the perception of ringing, hissing, or other sounds in the ears or head when no external sound is present. For some people, tinnitus is just a nuisance. For others, it is a life-altering condition. According to the American Tinnitus Association, over 50 million Americans experience tinnitus to some degree and of these, approximately 12 million people have tinnitus to a distressing degree.
Approximately 2 million Americans have tinnitus to the point where they are so seriously debilitated that they cannot function on a “normal” day-to-day basis and some may commit suicide. Lewis, J. E., S. D. G. Stephens, et al. (1993). “Tinnitus and suicide.”
Clin Otolaryngol
19: 50-54. It is this severely affected population, which is only poorly managed with therapies available today, that may benefit from intrathecal pharmacotherapy proposed in the current investigation.
In terms of population percentages, approximately 17% of the general population, and 33% of the elderly population suffer from tinnitus. McFadden, D. (1982).
Tinnitus: Facts, Theories, and Treatments
. Washington D.C., National Academy Press; and Sataloff, J., R. T. Sataloff, et al. (1987). “Tinnitus and vertigo in healthy senior citizens without a history of noise exposure.”
Am J Otol
8(2): 87-89.
Axelsson and Ringdahl reported that approximately 2.5% of the tinnitus patients that they surveyed complained that tinnitus “plagued me all day.” Axelsson, A. and A. Ringdahl (1989). “Tinnitus-a study of its prevalence and characteristics.”
British Journal of Audiology
23: 53-62. In Western countries various investigators have reported 0.5% to 1.0% of the population are severely affected by tinnitus to the extent that it interferes with their normal working and leisure life. Coles, R. R. A., A. C.
Thompson, et al. (1992). “Intra-tympanic injections in the treatment of tinnitus.”
Clin Otolaryngol
17(3): 240-242.
Despite the large medical impact of tinnitus, no widely accepted, effective treatment exists for the majority of cases of tinnitus. Dobie, R. A. (1999). “A review of randomized clinical trials in tinnitus.”
The Laryngoscope
109: 1202-1211; Simpson, J. J. and W. E. Davies (1999). “Recent advances in the pharmacological treatment of tinnitus.”
TiPS
20: 12-18.
In the vast majority of tinnitus cases an underlying cause is not apparent, and effective treatments (i.e., treatments which actually eliminate or reduce the sound) are not available. Most of the therapies that are presently available attempt to minimize the patients' awareness of the tinnitus symptoms or reduce their emotional reaction to their condition.
Rational treatment for the small proportion of patients with a reversible cause for their tinnitus involves correcting the underlying condition. This may involve removing or reducing the dose of the pharmacologic mediator (e.g., aspirin, aminoglycoside) or correcting the mechanical defect in the peripheral auditory system (e.g., remove obstructions in external auditory canal, surgically correct middle ear problems, or surgically decompress microvascular compressions of the auditory nerve).
Audiological Management
The most common method used to manage mild to moderate tinnitus is masking. In its simplest form, masking consists of self-exposure to background noise such as, radio, television, or recorded music. People with normal hearing and severe tinnitus can wear a small hearing-aid-like device that produces background (masking) noise in the affected ear. Patients with concomitant impaired hearing and tinnitus sometimes benefit (both their hearing and tinnitus) from use of a conventional hearing aid.
Psychotherapy
Limbic structures of the brain may be involved in the neural plastic changes associated with tinnitus. Supportive of this notion is the observation that the perceived amplitude of the tinnitus often does not correspond to the overall severity of the condition. For example, some patients with tinnitus of a relatively low volume are extremely disturbed, whereas others with high volume tinnitus are relatively unaffected by it. Lockwood, A. H., R. J. Salvi, et al. (1998). “The functional anatomy of gaze-evoked tinnitus: Evidence for limbic system links and neural plasticity.”
Neurology
50: 114-120.
Some researchers have used this observation to justify treatments based upon a habituation counseling strategy. Jastreboff, P. J., W. C. Gray, et al. (1996). “Neurophysiological approach to tinnitus patients.”
Amer J Otol
17: 236-240. Habituation is a psychological technique that trains patients to ignore or minimize their emotional reaction to tinnitus. Habituation is traditionally defmed as the disappearance of reactions to sensory stimuli because of repetitive exposure and the lack of positive or negative reinforcement. A necessary condition for inducing habituation is to remove the association between tinnitus and the emotional state, i.e., to remove the activation of the limbic system by the tinnitus signal. The most popular version of this therapy, tinnitus retraining therapy, has been developed and popularized by Dr. Pawel Jastreboff. The process typically requires approximately 12 months of therapy. Treatments tend to be more successful for mild and moderate forms of tinnitus and for cases of shorter duration.
Psychoactive Drugs
The drugs most commonly used to manage tinnitus are antidepressants (especially tricyclics) and anxiolytics (valium, alprazolam, buspirone), although they have limited efficacy. Anxiolytics and antidepressants affect the secondary psychological sequelae of tinnitus, rather than the perception of the noise itself. The neural plasticity associated with tinnitus may involve the formation of new neural connections between the auditory and limbic systems of the brain. Moller, A. R. (2001). “Symptoms and signs caused by neural plasticity.”
Neurological Research
23: 565-572.
Although numerous other drugs have been tried, the majority of clinical trials have produced negative results. Dobie, R. A. (1999). “A review of randomized clinical trials in tinnitus.”
The Laryngoscope
109: 1202-1211. Most agents have been administered orally, although several clinical trials attempting to directly administer agents into the ear have also failed to show efficacy. Coles, R. R. A., A. C. Thompson, et al. (1992). “Intra-tympanic injections in the treatment of tinnitus.”
Clin Otolaryngol
17(3): 240-242.
Pharmacologic Tinnitolytic Agents
Lidocaine
Intravenously (IV) administered lidocaine is the only drug that has demonstrated consistent, significant, and reproducible efficacy against tinnitus. den Hartigh, J., C. G. J. M. Hilders, et al. (1993). “Tinnitus suppression by intravenous lidocaine in relation to its plasma concentration.”
Clin Pharmaocol
&
Ther
54: 415-420. Unlike other commonly prescribed oral medications that tend to manage only the emotional symptoms associated with tinnitus, lidocaine actually reduces or eliminates the noise. Lidocaine ameliorates tinnitus in approximately 60-80% of sufferers, a result that has been replicated in numerous well-controlled clinical trials. Merchant, S. N. and M. V. Kirtane (1986). “Vestibular effects of intravenous lidocaine used in the treatment of tinnitus.”
J Laryngol Otol
100: 1249-1253. The efficacy of IV lidocaine is greater than the efficacy produced by auditory nerve transection (approximately 50%), suggestive of a central mechanism of lidocaine action. However, locally administered lidocaine (to the ear or cochlea) has been relatively ineffective. In addition, locally administered lidocaine to the ear has been associated with significant vestibular side effects such as vertigo and nausea. Ochi, K. and J. J. Eggermont (1996). “Effects of salicylate on neural activity in cat primary auditory cortex.”
Hearing Research
95(1-2): 63-76; Podoshin, L., M. Fradis, et al. (1992). “Treatment of tinnitus by intratympanic installation of lignocaine (lidocaine) 2 percent through ventilation tubes.”
J Lar
Kennedy Sharon
Medtronic Inc.
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