title: Sudden bilateral sensorineural hearing loss following speedballing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hearing loss is an infrequently-reported consequence of recreational drug abuse. Although there are sporadic reports of hearing loss from heroin and cocaine ingested separately, there are no reports of hearing loss resulting from the combination of both drugs ingested simultaneously in the form of speedballing.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this report is to document a case of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss associated with an episode of speedballing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case Report.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subject of this report was a 40-year-old man with a 20-year history of substance abuse. Data collected included a case history, pure tone audiometry, tympanometry and acoustic reflexes, and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The audiologic evaluation indicated a mild to moderate, relatively flat, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss that was worse in the right ear.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A bilateral sensorineural hearing loss involving both cochlear and neural pathology may be a rare complication of cocaine, heroin, or the combination of the two drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA. cgfowler@wisc.edu
authors.forename: Cynthia G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000158:Acoustic Impedance Tests; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D003042:Cocaine / Q000633:toxicity*; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003932:Heroin / Q000633:toxicity*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017084:Otoacoustic Emissions, Spontaneous / Q000187:drug effects; D012022:Reflex, Acoustic / Q000187:drug effects; D012181:Retrocochlear Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000139:chemically induced; D000159:Vestibulocochlear Nerve / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003932:Heroin; D003042:Cocaine