A cochlear vascular anomaly in a patient with hearing loss and tinnitus.
An unusual blood vessel in the cochlea of a patient is reported. The blood vessel derives from the osseous lamina spiralis and crosses straight through the scala tympani toward the lateral wall of the perilymphatic duct. In its course a branch derives from this vessel toward the other spiral vessel. In the region of this abberrant vessel a complete hair-cell loss is present. A high tone perceptive loss with a relative dip and tinnitus was found in the same ear during life. The possible cause and effects of this abberrant vessel are discussed.
D000368:Aged; D001489:Basilar Membrane / Q000098:blood supply; D003051:Cochlea / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D006198:Hair Cells, Auditory / Q000648:ultrastructure; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000209:etiology*; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000209:etiology*; D006316:Hearing Loss, High-Frequency / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D012533:Scala Tympani / Q000098:blood supply; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000209:etiology*