Venous communications of the cochlea after acute occlusion of the vein of the cochlear aqueduct.

The vein of the cochlear aqueduct (VCAQ) is the principal drainage vein of the cochlea in the guinea pig. Morphological observations of the VCAQ and its adjacent structures were made by studying serial sections of the cochlea. We detected the presence of two collateral vessels from the mucoperiosteal veins of the middle ear which communicated with the VCAQ. Following acute occlusion of the VCAQ, marked dilatations of these vessels were observed in corrosion cast preparations. Our findings suggest that these vessels act as collateral veins following acute venous congestion of the inner ear.