Regional Differences in Sensitivity of the Vestibular Sensory Epithelia to Ototoxic Antibiotics

Abstract

The effect of intratympanic application of streptomycin and parenteral injections of kanamycin upon the vestibular sensory epithelia have been studied with the surface specimen technique. Clear regional differences in vulnerability to these ototoxic antibiotics have been noticed. The sensory epithelia of the cristae ampullares were more vulnerable than the macula utriculi, which in turn was distinctly more vulnerable than the macula sacculi. The degenerative changes involved primarily the central parts of the crista epithelium and the striola of the maculae.