Tinnitus as a Presenting Symptom in Secondary Neuropathy: a Case Report

The authors describe a case of neuropathy characterized by involvement of most of the right cranial nerves, the initial symptom of which was tinnitus. The most likely etiopathogenetic hypothesis seems to be the paraneoplastic syndrome in which a primitive neurogenic axon lesion is more likely, although a myelinopathic lesion cannot be ruled out. It is feasible to suggest that the tinnitus was caused by a central neuron demyelination associated with concomitant peripheral nervous system involvement. Observation of present case allows the authors to point out that tinnitus may be the early sign of neurological disease which can evolve into the central and/or peripheral neurologic disease.