[Effect of acoustic trauma on the ganglion of Corti].

Ultrastructural characteristics of cells in Corti's ganglion have been studied in guinea pigs subjected to acoustic stress of white wide-stripped noise (100 db for 12 h a day, for 30 days). The earliest regressive signs appear in the cells at the level of the 2d helix. They demonstrate rejection of plasmic membrane from the myelin sheath and cytoplasmic compression resulting in destruction of the whole cell. In lemmocytes, in ganglion cells and in their sheaths sharply osmiophilic myelin and multivesicular bodies are often seen. Destruction of myelinated neurons has been described. Regressive changes have not been revealed in unmyelinated neurons, the latter composing about 2% of all ganglion cells.