Aspirin to Prevent Gentamicin-Induced Hearing Loss

To the Editor: The use of aminoglycosides as powerful broad-spectrum, bactericidal, and nonallergenic antibiotics is limited by serious side effects, including irreversible hearing loss. Nevertheless, the drugs are commonly prescribed in some situations, including as part of the regimen against mult...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 354; no. 17; pp. 1856 - 1857
Main Authors Qiu, Jian-Hua, Sha, Su-Hua, Schacht, Jochen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 27.04.2006
Subjects
Adult
Anti-Bacterial Agents - adverse effects
Antioxidants - therapeutic use
Aspirin - therapeutic use
Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors - therapeutic use
Double-Blind Method
Female
Gentamicins - adverse effects
Hearing Loss - chemically induced
Hearing Loss - prevention & control
Humans
Male
Prospective Studies
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:To the Editor: The use of aminoglycosides as powerful broad-spectrum, bactericidal, and nonallergenic antibiotics is limited by serious side effects, including irreversible hearing loss. Nevertheless, the drugs are commonly prescribed in some situations, including as part of the regimen against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis recommended by the World Health Organization. 1 The incidence of gentamicin-induced hearing loss averages 8 percent for a short course of therapy 2 but may be higher in developing countries, where aminoglycosides are frequently the only affordable antibiotics and are sold over the counter. No therapy presently exists to prevent ototoxicity. Animal models suggest that ototoxicity is caused by reactive . . .
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJMc053428