Is Routine Audiometric Evaluation Necessary in Gynaecologic Tumour Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy?

Abstract

Background: Our objective was to assess the auditory function of gynaecological tumour patients who had received cytotoxic agents and to determine their associated risk of ototoxicity. Patients and Methods: 87 patients who had undergone chemotherapy for gynaecological malignancies were investigated. Of these patients, 79% had breast cancer, and 14% ovarian cancer. All of the patients had a subjective assessment of their hearing function on a visual analogue scale. Audiometric tests were performed before and at 9 weeks, 18 weeks and 3 months after completion of chemotherapy. Results: The age of the patients ranged from 32 to 71 years (mean age of 53.5 ± 10.5 years). The average subjective rating of the patients' hearing function was 83.0 ± 17.2 before and 84.8 ± 16.9 3 months after completion of chemotherapy. No significant audiometric change at either the speech hearing frequency range (0.5-2 KHz) or high frequencies was observed in the patients after chemotherapy. There was also no significant difference in the hearing threshold of the patients who had received platinum analogue-based chemotherapy compared to non-platinum analogue-based chemotherapy. Conclusion: Hearing loss is uncommon in patients treated with the typical gynaecological chemotherapy protocols. Hence, routine audiometric testing in these patients is not necessary.