1998 Volume 57 Issue 4 Pages 421-427
Morphological aspects of the vestibular end-organs, especially the otolith organs should be considered three-dimensionally when the functions of these organs are dis cussed. In this study, the saccular maculae and the other parts of the vestibular end-organs, from serial sections of human temporal bone which was sectioned horizontally at a thickness of 20 μm, were reconstructed three-dimensionally using a computer with 3-D software (Ashlar Vellum 3D). Every fifth section was stained with hematoxylin and eosin from the level of the lateral semicircular canal ampulla to the posterior semicircular canal ampulla, while every tenth section was stained in the other portion. When the saccular maculae were presented in temporal bone sections, coordinating markers were placed every 100 μm, and triangles were drawn using those markers on the surface of the saccular maculae. A total of five hundred and twenty-two triangles were constructed on the entire surface area of the saccular maculae. Using data from measurement of those triangles, the equations of each plane of the triangle and the angles between each triangle and each standard plane (the sagittal, horizontal and frontal planes) in the stereotaxic coordinate system were developed and calculations solved. The median, maximums and minimums of the angle were (27.2°, 66.5°, 1°), (71.5°, 89.9°, 33.9°) and (76.2°, 89.9°, 46.9°), respectively. The above results were based on the measurements of one temporal bone specimen. There are probably some variations among temporal bones, and we plan to reconfirm the above findings using at least three additional temporal bone specimens in the future.
This study is supported in part by NIH/NIDCD Grant DC00589 and the Japan Foundation for Aging and Health.
