[The dangerous mental patient and the responsibility of the patient care team]

Imprints indicating possible direct inner sensory cell hair contact with the tectorial membrane were observed in the cochlea of a 77-year-old women under a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The imprints were seen in the lower and upper basal cochlear turns but not in the apical and middle turns. The small dot of imprints numbered from a few up to 12 and were arranged in various forms rather than straight lines. Contact between the tectorial membrane and inner and outer sensory cell hairs of the human cochlea was discussed from the SEM findings found in this case.