Contralateral versus ipsilateral rTMS of temporoparietal cortex for the treatment of chronic unilateral tinnitus: comparative study

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied over left temporoparietal cortex has been reported to have a long‐term therapeutic effect on tinnitus. We compare the impact of 1 and 25 Hz rTMS delivered either contralateral or ipsilateral to symptoms in 62 patients with unilateral chronic tinnitus. Material and methods: Patients were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: with stimulation at 1 or 25 Hz applied either ipsilateral or contralateral to symptoms. Two thousand pulses per session were given daily for 2 weeks. Changes in tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), self‐rating scores of loudness, awareness, and annoyance were measured monthly for 10 months. Duration of residual inhibition (RI) and psychiatric morbidity were evaluated monthly for 3 months. Results: There was a significant main effect of time (P