Unbiased Stereological Estimation of the Spiral Ligament and Stria Vascularis Volumes in Aging and Ménière’s Disease Using Archival Human Temporal Bones

The present study applies the unbiased stereological technique—Cavalieri principle to measure the volumes of the stria vascularis (SV) and the spiral ligament (SL) using postmortem archival human temporal bones from normal young and older subjects and subjects with Ménière’s disease. Normative data was obtained from subjects without ages ranging from 15 to 84 years old who had no history of audiovestibular disease (N = 25). For comparison purposes, the normative specimens were divided into three groups: group 1 (n = 8) had ages ranging from 15 to 38 years old, average age = 23.9; group 2 (n = 8) had ages ranging from 51 to 59 years old, average age = 55.1; group 3 (n = 9) had ages ranging from 64 to 84 years old, average age = 74.3. The average SV volume of group 3 (0.479 mm³) was significantly lower than that of group 1 (0.705 mm³) (p < 0.0005) and was significantly lower than that of group 2 (0.603 mm³) (p = 0.01). The average SL volume of group 3 (8.42 mm³) was significantly lower than that of group 1 (9.54 mm³) (p<0.05), but was not significantly lower than that of group 2 (8.58 mm³). Five subjects with Ménière’s disease, confirmed by histopathological examination (ages ranging from 63 to 91 years old, average age = 73.4), were studied. The average SV volume in Ménière’s subjects (0.378 mm³) was significantly lower than age-matched controls (p<0.05). The average SL volume in Ménière’s subjects (7.01 mm³) was also significantly lower than age-matched controls (p<0.05). The SV and SL volumes were unaffected by gender. The present study demonstrates for the first time the use of the unbiased stereological technique—Cavalieri principle—as a reliable and efficient method to obtain volumetric estimates of the SV and the SL by using archival human temporal bone specimens.