The lipofuscin content of Scarpas ganglion of normal and Menière's disease patients related to age: a histologic and morphometric study.

Vestibular ganglia were removed post mortem from 25 patients with normal inner ear function and 9 patients with known Menière's disease. The lipofuscin content of the ganglion cells of all specimens were analysed and the two groups compared. The age range of the non-Menière's patients was from 14 to 82 years, and of the Menière's patients from 42 to 72 years. All ganglion cells contained lipofuscin, mostly in the form of large granules. Lipofuscin was concentrated in the lateral areas of the ganglion cells and in each polar extension. In both groups the content of lipofuscin in ganglia increased with age. The increase in the Menière cases was greater. In age-matched data no non-Menière's ganglion reached the content of lipofuscin of a Menière's ganglion. The average percentage of lipofuscin in Scarpa's ganglion was determined by counting lipofuscin granule area in different levels of one ganglion. The portion of lipofuscin in the cytoplasm of ganglion cells of the Menière ganglions was increased about 44% compared with the non-Menière ganglions, if the average percentage of lipofuscin was set at 100%. The increase of 44% is nearly constant between 40 and 70 years. This is a relative increase, because the ganglion cells of the Menière's patients are 12% smaller than those of the healthy persons. Taking into account the different sizes of the ganglion cells these is an absolute increase of lipofuscin in the Menière cases of 28%.