The morphological differences of stereocilia and cuticular plates between type-I and type-II hair cells of human vestibular sensory epithelia.

The sensory epithelia of macula utriculi were examined by conventional and intermediate voltage transmission electron microscopy. The specimens were obtained from three cases of acoustic neurinoma who were operated on using the translabyrinthine approach. The mean diameter of the vestibular hair cell stereocilia was obtained and the cuticular plates of type-I and type-II hair cells were reconstructed three-dimensionally from the consecutive 0.5-micron-thick sections. The mean diameter of stereocilia of type-I hair cells was 488 +/- 59 nm (n = 13) and that of stereocilia of type-II hair cells was 373 +/- 21 nm (n = 14). Stereocilia of type-I hair cells numbered about 70 and those of type-II hair cells about 50. The cuticular plates of type-I hair cells were several times as thick as those of type-II hair cells. The cuticular plate of the type-I hair cell appeared to be an inverse cone and that of the type-II hair cell seemed to be a flat disc.