Acetylcysteine [N-acetylcysteine] may prevent gentamicin-induced deafness among haemodialysis patients

Excerpt

Acetylcysteine [N-acetylcysteine] may prevent gentamicin-induced deafness among haemodialysis patients, report researchers from Israel. They evaluated data from 40 such patients who received gentamicin with acetylcysteine (n = 20) or without acetylcysteine (controls). The mean duration of therapy was almost 15 days for both groups; the cumulative gentamicin dose was 675.5mg for acetylcysteine recipients and 694.5mg for controls. Throughout the study period, a significantly greater proportion of controls developed ototoxicity than acetylcysteine recipients (60% vs 25%). Moreover, a significantly greater proportion of control patients developed bilateral ototoxicity than acetylcysteine recipients (30% vs 5%). …