title: Temporal bone studies of the human peripheral vestibular system. Meniere's disease.
abstract: Quantitative assessments of vestibular hair cells and Scarpa's ganglion cells were performed on temporal bones from 24 patients with well-documented Meniere's disease. Of these, 18 had unilateral disease and 6 had bilateral disease. Vestibular hair cell counts were made in each of the 5 sense organs by Nomarski (differential interference contrast) microscopy. Hair cell counts were expressed as densities: number of cells per 0.01 mm2 surface area of the sensory epithelium. The results were compared with age- and sex-matched normal data. The type I hair cell densities for all vestibular sense organs were within the range for normative data. On the other hand, there was a significant loss (p < .01) of type II hair cells for all 3 cristae and both maculae. There was also a significant loss of Scarpa's ganglion cells (p < .001) when compared with normative data. The findings indicate a selective loss of type II hair cells and Scarpa's ganglion cells in Meniere's disease. These new observations have implications regarding the pathophysiological mechanism and clinical manifestations of Meniere's disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmiary, Boston 02114, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Velázquez-Villaseñor
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Glynn
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Merchant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D018069:Hair Cells, Vestibular / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008575:Meniere Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014725:Vestibular Nerve / Q000473:pathology*