Histopathologic features of the inner ear associated with Kearns-Sayre syndrome

We describe the histopathologic features of the inner ear in a 19-year-old girl with bilateral total deafness associated with Kearns-Sayre syndrome. The inner ear shows advanced degree of cochleo-saccular degeneration, with almost complete absence of the organ of Corti in all turns. The spiral ganglion shows a reduction of about 60% to 70% of cells, with almost complete degeneration of nerve fibers in the bony spiral lamina. PAS-positive material was found accumulated in globules between the collapsed Reissner membrane and remains of marginal cells of the stria and in the degenerated sensory cell area of the saccular macula.