Early detection of cisplatin ototoxicity using distortion product otoacoustic emission

The distortion product otoacoustic emission [DPOAE] can detect small changes in the cochlear status, due to its high sensitivity and specificity to the outer hair cells. This study was carried out on 25 patients receiving cisplatin [100 mg/m2 in 24 hr infusion every 21 days] for early detection of cisplatin ototoxicity in those patients who had normal hearing threshold by standard audiometric methods of evaluation [PTA, SDT, AR]. This work showed that there was a significant difference of the DOPAE at the high frequencies only, in patients that received only one cycle of cisplatin, compared with the control group. However, there was a significant difference in DOPAE in both the low and high frequencies in patients that received more than one cycle of cisplatin compared to the control group

Desferrioxamine-induced ototoxicity in haemodialyzed patients

Forty uremic patients on regular hemodialysis for 44.2 +/- 19.8 months were followed up audiometrically for ototoxicity of desferrioxamine [DFO] which was taken for the treatment of aluminum toxicity. The hearing threshold, especially at frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 4000 and 8000 Hz and the speech reaction threshold were significantly increased, while the speech discrimination score was significantly decreased. On the other hand, the percentages of tinnitus and vertigo were insignificantly increased after DFO. It is concluded that DFO may precipitate sensorineural hearing loss that was found to be dose dependent. Thus regular audiometric examination has to be considered in hemodialyzed patients receiving DFO for early detection of its ototoxicity