Abstract
Guinea pigs were killed by decapitation, and blood sludging and HRP (horseradish peroxidase) leakage out of the capillaries was examined in the stria vascularis. This phenomenon was observed in almost all of the upper three turns, but it was less marked in the basal turn. It is thought that this discrepancy is caused by the difference in the number of capillaries which first enters the stria vascularis, leave it and then pass through the spiral ligament at each turn. In the basal turn larger numbers of capillaries enter the stria vascularis and pass through the spiral ligament and a smaller number of capillaries leave the stria vascularis than in the upper turns. The difference between the numbers of capillaries entering and leaving the stria vascularis is thought to influence the strial blood flow, especially when a capillary leaving the stria vascularis is constricted as after decapitation.
