Our previous studies showed that pretreatment with corticosteroids, which inhibits release of arachidonic acid (precursor of prostaglandins and leukotrienes), partially prevented salicylate-induced hearing loss in vivo. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pretreatment with corticosteroid (dexamethasone sodium phosphate) on isolated cochlear outer hair cells (OHCs) exposed to salicylate in vitro. Isolated OHCs from the chinchilla cochlea were exposed to salicylate with or without pretreatment with dexamethasone. Images were stored and analyzed on the Image program. The OHCs exposed to salicylate demonstrated a significant shortening in cell length. The OHCs exposed to salicylate after pretreatment with dexamethasone exhibited no significant change in cell length. We conclude that corticosteroid treatment of isolated OHCs is effective in blocking the morphological changes induced by salicylate. This study gives additional evidence that salicylate ototoxicity is mediated by alteration in the levels of arachidonic acid metabolites.