A cochlear vascular anomaly in a patient with hearing loss and tinnitus.

An unusual blood vessel in the cochlea of a patient is reported. The blood vessel derives from the osseous lamina spiralis and crosses straight through the scala tympani toward the lateral wall of the perilymphatic duct. In its course a branch derives from this vessel toward the other spiral vessel. In the region of this abberrant vessel a complete hair-cell loss is present. A high tone perceptive loss with a relative dip and tinnitus was found in the same ear during life. The possible cause and effects of this abberrant vessel are discussed.