The Ototoxicity of Ceftazidime in the Chinchilla Middle Ear

Ceftazidime (Tazicef) is a broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic that may be useful as a topical agent in the treatment of otorrhea. To test the potential ototoxicity of the drug, 0.5 mL of a 10% solution of ceftazidime was introduced into the bullae of 22 chinchillas. The organ of Corti was normal in 20 temporal bones examined at 1 week after administration of the ceftazidime solution. Only 2 of 24 temporal bones examined after 4 weeks showed minor outer hair cell loss of the basal turn of the organ of Corti. Focal hemorrhage and occasional serous effusions were found in the middle ears of all animals after 1 week; these findings had mostly cleared after 4 weeks. Our results indicate that ceftazidime causes reversible middle ear inflammation, and may have some minor ototoxic potential under these experimental conditions. (Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1989;115:940-942)