Temporal bone studies of the human peripheral vestibular system. Meniere's disease

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.