Distortion product otoacoustic emission for the screening of cochlear damage in children treated with cisplatin.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To detect subtle hearing changes by measuring otoacoustic emissions in patients treated with a first dose of cisplatin.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective study.

METHODS

We recruited 26 patients (mean age at treatment, 11.3 years) into this prospective study conducted at a tertiary academic referral center. Audiograms and transient-evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) were measured before and after the first dose of cisplatin.

RESULTS

Baseline readings were compared with those recorded after the administration of the first dose of cisplatin. Two patients showed a loss of TEOAEs at high frequencies above 4 kHz, and this was consistent with the 25-dB hearing loss of the high frequencies detected in their audiograms; there was a significant threshold shift for DPOAEs at a frequency >3 to 4 kHz (P <.05).

CONCLUSIONS

DPOAE testing appears to be a more sensitive method to detect cochlear damage than conventional pure-tone audiometry. Our results suggest that the measurement of DPOAE thresholds is a useful approach to detect the early auditory changes induced by cisplatin therapy.