[Adverse effects of drugs on the hearing organ]

Many different classes of drugs are known to produce ototoxicity. They include such commonly used agents as salicylates and diuretics but the most important of them are the ototoxic antibiotics, particularly those of the aminoglycoside group. The toxic effects result from an initial selective damaging to the organ of Corti (hair cells) or the secretory cells of the stria vascularis. Both damaging mechanisms are dose-dependent. The ototoxic risk of the different drugs is described.