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Chronic Electrical Stimulation of the Auditory Cortex for Intractable Tinnitus

Chronic Electrical Stimulation of the Auditory Cortex for Intractable Tinnitus

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00486577
Acronym
ACOUSCO
Enrollment
10
Registered
2007-06-14
Start date
2007-06-30
Completion date
2010-12-31
Last updated
2011-01-28

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hearing Disorders, Hearing Loss, Hyperacusis, Tinnitus

Keywords

Hearing Disorders, Hearing Loss, Hyperacusis, Tinnitus, chronic cortical stimulation, functional magnetic resonance imaging

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether chronic electrical stimulation of the primary auditory cortex is effective in the treatment of chronic, severe and intractable tinnitus

Detailed description

Severe and chronic tinnitus - the perception of sound in one or both ears or in the head when non-external sound is present - can be disabling and difficult to treat. Physiopathology of tinnitus can be considered as similar to neuropathic pain. Neuropathic and central pain are treated since ten years by chronic electrical motor cortex stimulation. The hypothesis of this study is that it will be possible to treat severe tinnitus by this stimulation as neuropathic pains are treated by motor cortical stimulation. * Principal Objective : to evaluate the efficacy of chronic electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex for intractable tinnitus * Secondary Objective : to evaluate the tolerability and the safety of chronic electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex for intractable tinnitus * Study design : randomized, cross over, double blind, study to evaluate the efficacy of the chronic electrical stimulation versus sham in severe and chronic tinnitus * Inclusion criteria : Patient \>18 years of age and \< 70 years of age Permanent and chronic tinnitus during more than 2 years. A score over 19 at the STI (Quality of life index for tinnitus) Unilateral tinnitus • Exclusion criteria : Deaf person Surgical or anesthetic contraindication History of psychiatric disorder or suicide Epilepsia • Number of subjects : 10

Interventions

PROCEDUREsignificant chronic primary auditory cortex stimulation during the first two weeks

significant chronic primary auditory cortex stimulation during the first two weeks of the follow up than wash out period followed by two weeks of non significant stimulation

PROCEDUREnon significant chronic primary auditory cortex stimulation during the first two weeks

non significant stimulation during the first two weeks of the follow up than wash out period followed by two weeks of significant chronic primary auditory cortex stimulation

Sponsors

University Hospital, Bordeaux
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patient \> 18 years of age and \< 70 years of age * Permanent and chronic tinnitus during more than 2 years * A score over 19 at the STI (Quality of life index)

Exclusion criteria

* Deaf person * Surgical or anesthetic contraindication * History of psychiatric disorder or suicide * Epilepsia

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
intensity of the tinnitus. The cut off efficacy is 35% improvement on the STI score6 months

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaire Multiple Activity Scale for Hyperacusis questionnaires for assessment of the patients and treatment outcome of tinnitus hyperacusis and loss of hearing subjective global improvement scale6 months

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 20, 2026