Ethiology of tinnitus: discomalleolar ligament in fresh human cadavers: anatomical and clinical aspect

Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no actual sound is present; it is a subjective symptom the severity of which is directly related to the description of the patient. About the etiopathogenesis tinnitus can be a symptom of otologic disorders, or neurological disorders or alteration in blood pression and temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The etiology of TMD has been considered multifactorial because one or more factors may contribute to its predisposition, initiation, and maintenance. Several anatomic relationships between the ear and the TMJ have been proposed to account for the presence of aural symptoms during TMD. Pinto wrote about a legament found spreading from the neck and anterior process of the malleus in a cone-shaped form forward, downward, and laterally to insert into the medio-postero-superior part of the capsule, the interarticular disc and the sphenomandibular legament through PTF. The study has been conducted on 5 fresh adult cadavers. Dissection was performed through two different approaches, from the same expert TMJ surgeon, looking for Pinto's ligament.