Erythromycin ototoxicity: a call to heighten recognition.

Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss developed in a 64-year-old woman treated with intravenous erythromycin lactobionate for bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia. Discontinuance of the antibiotic led to prompt correction of the hearing deficit. Reversible hearing loss is an infrequently described adverse effect attributed to high-dose erythromycin therapy. Possible risk factors, including age, gender, and hepatic and renal function, may contribute to the development of erythromycin ototoxicity.