Preparation of human temporal bone for immunohistochemical investigation

Successful treatment of progressive sensorineural hearing loss with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide has promoted the notion of a new entity 'autoimmune hearing loss'. In this context, we have examined sera of patients suffering from idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss, in order to study the binding of humoral antibodies to structures of the normal human inner ear. Investigations were carried out with indirect fluorescence techniques on temporal bones obtained at autopsy. To minimize the possibility of artifacts, we suggested that indirect immunofluorescence with the patients' sera should yield a reproducible positivity on sections of at least three normal temporal bones. In this study, we describe a method for removal and preparation of human temporal bone which ensures reproducible immunohistochemical results.