Results of hearing testing at 7-year follow-up of kanamycin-treated newborn infants.

A follow-up study 7--8 years after kanamycin treatment of 83 newborn infants in the Tampere University Central Hospital is described. The Apgar scores ranged from 1 to 10, about half of the patients being premature. Only in 1 case (1.2%) a slight bilateral high-tone loss was found. This patient's birth had been complicated by ablation of the placenta with subsequent cesarean section and he had neonatal sepsis as well. The cause of this hearing defect is thus not necessarily the use of kanamycin. Because of the extended use of reserve antibiotics, microorganisms resistant to modern antibiotics may necessitate in some vital cases the use of kanamycin. Our results indicate that, if serum concentrations are monitored adequately, the use of kanamycin does not necessarily result in a hearing defect.