Modified staining technique for surface preparation of the organ of Corti

A simple technique for the staining of the inner ear tissues using toluidine blue and Ehrlich haematoxylin is described. The method is very convenient for histological evaluation of hair cell counts, for estimation of the number of scars in the reticular lamina, for observing the arrangement of stereociliary pattern and for the detection of traumatic changes after noise exposure. The method described proves to be very useful for histological examination of human temporal bones as well and makes possible an immediate evaluation of the hair cells of the human cochlea and direct correlation of the inner ear pathology with audiometric data.