Annette Schmidt - "A Clinical Approach towards Treatment for Patients with Chronic Tinnitus"

RÉSUMÉ

Tinnitus is a perception of a sound or noise without equivalent in the surroundings. We differentiate between acute, subacute and chronic, subjective and objective tinnitus.  Thorough anamnesis, ENT-examination and sometimes  further diagnostics are essential to chose the appropriate therapy for an individual. A Qualified counseling is a necessity. As patients with chronic tinnitus can be severely distressed an interdisciplinary approach with psychotherapists and/or psychiatrists can be effective. Dr Schmidt will present the  Innsbruck approach with individual and group therapy.

rTMS in the treatment of tinnitus

Chronic tinnitus can be associated with excessive spontaneous activity in the central auditory and limbic system as demonstrated by electrophysiology and functional neuroimaging studies. Moreover, it can be highly correlated with cortical reorganization, thus may be an auditory phantom phenomenon related to plastic alterations in the auditory cortex. rTMS has been reported to  normalize central activity. Dr. Schmidt will present first results of patients treated with neuronavigated low frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (lf-rTMS) over the primary auditory cortex using a 4 week randomized sham-controlled design.

A PROPOS DU Dr. ANNETTE SCHMIDT 

Dr. Annette Schmidt is an ENT doctor at the Department of Hearing, Speech and Voice Disorders, Innsbruck University Hospital, Austria.  For the past 12 years, she has focused on phoniatrics, the European specialization for voice, speech, speaking, swallowing and hearing disorders. Since 1998 she has been a consultant for patients with chronic tinnitus. Together with her tinnitus self help group she co-authored a brochure for primary information for tinnitus patients and in 1999 Dr. Schmidt pioneered group therapy for patients with chronic tinnitus in cooperation with the Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy. Dr. Schmidt’s other main interests are cochlear implants, the professional voice as well as the interdisciplinary treatment of patients with cleft palate.

Cet événement se tiendra en anglais