Neurovascular Compression Syndrome with Intermittent Hemifacial Spasm and Simultaneous Tinnitus

Abstract

Herein, we report the case of a 75-year-old woman diagnosed as having the neurovascular compression syndrome associated with intermittent hemifacial spasm and simultaneous tinnitus.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the head revealed compression of the left seventh and eighth cranial nerves by an expanded vertebral artery, and based on these findings, the diagnosis of neurovascular compression syndrome was made. The left hemifacial spasm was induced by compression of the seventh cranial nerve. The patient did not complain of vertigo or hearing loss, but exhibited tinnitus with mimetic words on the left side, suggesting that the tinnitus was induced by abnormal contraction of the stapedial muscle as a result of stimulation of the stapedius nerve, a branch of the seventh cranial nerve.