Relationship of Type and Number of Chemotherapy Cycles with Acoustic Emission Disorder in Childhood Malignancy

Chemotherapy is the primary therapy for several types of malignancies in children. Platinum-based chemotherapy could cause hearing loss due to its ototoxic properties (60-70%). Hearing loss could be detected through otoacoustic emission (OAE) examination. This study investigates the relationship between the type and number of chemotherapy cycles with acoustic emission disorder in childhood malignancy. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dr. Kariadi Hospital Semarang. The inclusion criteria were patients, who had undergone a minimum of three cycles of chemotherapy, had type A tympanometry, and consent from patients or parents to be included in the study. Patients with a history of congenital abnormalities, speech delays, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, heart disease, kidney failure, long-term use of drugs (antibiotics, NSAIDs, and quinine), head and neck radiation, history of noise exposure, and patients who changed chemotherapy regimen in the middle of treatment were excluded. An acoustic emission disorder was established if OAE results showed pass ≤5 frequency and SNR point 3 cycles of chemotherapy (p=0.042), and 20 (51.3%) patients with non-systemic malignancy developed acoustic emission disorder. In conclusion, platinum-based chemotherapy has been shown to have the potential to cause hearing problems. Giving more than three chemotherapy cycles is associated with auditory emission disorder in children with malignancy.