title: Developments in delivery of medications for inner ear disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hearing loss, tinnitus and balance disturbance represent common diseases that have tremendous impact on quality of life. Despite the high incidence of inner ear disease in the general population, there are currently no dedicated pharmacologic interventions available to treat these problems.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review will focus on how treatment of inner ear disease is moving toward local delivery at the end organ level. The authors will discuss current practice, ongoing clinical trials and potential areas of development such as hair cell regeneration and neurotrophin therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The inner ear is accessible through the middle ear via the oval and round windows allowing diffusion of drugs into the perilymph. With a better understanding of the physiology of the inner ear and the underlying molecular causes of inner ear disease there is great potential for the development of novel therapeutics that can be locally administered. At present, there is a rapid development of drugs to target diverse inner ear diseases that cause sensorineural hearing loss and balance dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: University of Kansas School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, MS 3010, 3901 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA. Hstaecker@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Hinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Staecker
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodgers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D007759:Labyrinth Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations