Ototoxicity screening of patients treated with streptomycin using distortion product otoacoustic emissions

Pure tone audiometry (PTA) is currently widely used to monitor ototoxicity, but this method is time-consuming. Here we validate distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) as an instrument for early detection of ototoxicity.

A cohort study was performed on newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients who were treated with streptomycin. The patients underwent hearing assessment using conventional PTA and high-frequency DPOAE (8, 9 and 10 kHz) on days 0, 7, 14, 28 and 56 of streptomycin treatment. Detection of ototoxicity according to the duration of streptomycin treatment was compared between DPOAE and PTA.

Of 96 newly diagnosed patients treated with streptomycin, 50 completed the study. During the treatment period, 62.5% of the patients had vertigo, while 37.5% complained of tinnitus. DPOAE detected ototoxicity in 47.7% of the cases at day 7, 66.0% at day 14, 70.0% at day 28 and 77.1% at day 56 of streptomycin treatment. The higher frequencies were affected more by ototoxicity, with significant differences at 8 vs. 9 kHz on all testing days and at 9 vs. 10 kHz except on days 7 and 56 (p < 0.001). Hearing loss was detected by PTA in 2.3% of patients on day 7, in 10.6% on day 14, in 22.0% on day 48 and in 29.2% on day 56.

DPOAE is a sensitive tool that can detect early changes in the cochlea due to ototoxicity. Use of DPOAE rather than PTA to screen for ototoxicity could reduce screening time and would allow clinical monitoring of more patients.