Sudden bilateral sensorineural hearing loss after intravenous cocaine injection: A case report and review of the literature
✍ Scribed by Markus Stenner; Konrad Stürmer; Dirk Beutner; Jens Peter Klussmann
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 234 KB
- Volume
- 119
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0023-852X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Little is known about the effects of intravenous abuse of cocaine, especially on the inner ear. We report on a 26‐year‐old man who presented to our outpatient department with a sudden severe hearing loss after intravenous injection of cocaine. The audiogram on admission showed symmetric air conduction levels up to 80 dB at 4 kHz. After treatment with intravenous sodium chloride, prednisolone, and pentoxifylline, the audiogram 2 days later showed a bilateral normacusis. A review of the literature on the topic is given and possible reasons for inner ear damages caused by cocaine are discussed. Laryngoscope, 2009