title: Sudden bilateral sensorineural hearing loss after intravenous cocaine injection: a case report and review of the literature.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. markus.stenner@uk-koeln.de
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stenner
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stürmer
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beutner
authors.forename: Jens Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Klussmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001299:Audiometry; D003042:Cocaine; D006309:Hearing / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine