ABSTRACT
A number of compounds have been identified as ototoxic in the literature. The degree of ototoxicity can vary widely across agents, and occasionally an agent may be listed as possibly ototoxic if there is only a suspicion of ototoxicity. Chemotherapeutic agents constitute ototoxic medications. Although aminoglycoside antibiotics have been recognized as ototoxic for decades, they remain very useful agents for the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections. The hearing loss secondary to loop diuretics can be more pronounced in either the middle or high frequencies, unlike cisplatin and aminoglycoside ototoxicity. Audiologic monitoring for ototoxicity is an essential but sometimes challenging area of audiologic practice. High-frequency audiometry has now been well documented as an effective test method over the last three decades and now should be standard procedure for most ototoxicity monitoring, particularly in adults, although it can be used with older children. For ototoxicity monitoring, otoacoustic emissions of interest are generally transient otoacoustic emissions and distortion product otoacoustic emissions.
