Experimental investigations on the influence of anemia on gentamicin ototoxicity.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not anemic patients have a higher risk of gentamicin ototoxicity. Using the laboratory rat as an animal model with auditory brain-stem response measurements and surface preparations of the organ of Corti, it could be shown that cochlear damage in anemic rats treated with gentamicin was significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than in the nonanemic ones treated with the same dosages of antibiotic. Doses of gentamicin used were 50 mg/kg for 30 days and 40 mg/kg for another 75 days.