[Ultrastructure of the human corpse Corti's organ].

Human cochlea locates deeply in the petrous part of the temporal bone, which makes the specimen preparation for electron microscopic study very difficult. The authors had collected two cochleas from human corpses died of brain injuries in order to know if the method of specimen preparation conventionally used was adequate for the preservation of ultrastructures and to study the ultrastructural characteristics of the human Corti's organ. The results showed that the specimen dissected 1 hour after death, stored at 4 degrees C and perfused with glutaraldehyde 4 hours after death was good enough in terms of preservation of fine structures. The authors had also compared their findings with those reported by others and those found in the guinea pig.