Vestibular nerve findings in 150 neurectomized patients

Vestibular nerve specimens obtained at neurectomy were studied by light and electron microscopy in 150 patients with various neuro-otological disorders. The vestibular nerve was considered morphologically normal in only 20% of the cases but the changes observed in most cases were interpreted as artifacts or physiological changes of aging. In nearly half of the cases there was excessive fibrosis of the perineurium or endoneurium of the vestibular nerve, or occurrence of glial tissue within or near Scarpa's ganglion. When these changes are of moderate or severe degree, they may be of pathological significance. Severe nerve cell destruction with subsequent fibrosis, indicating primary neuropathy, was found in four cases.