Je. Saunders et al., COCHLEAR IMPLANT-RELATED OSTEONEOGENESIS IN AN ANIMAL-MODEL - FLUORESCENT LABELING, The American journal of otology, 15(5), 1994, pp. 606-610
Cochlear osteoneogenesis may result from a variety of pathologic condi
tions, including cochlear implantation. The etiology of cochlear osteo
neogenesis following implantation, however, is not known. Cochlear imp
lant-related osteoneogenesis has been demonstrated in laboratory anima
ls, but the specific cause, extent, or time-course of this process has
not been determined. In this preliminary study, fluorescent bone labe
ls were used to assess osteoneogenesis in six chinchillas in three exp
erimental categories: surgical trauma to the cochlea, chronic nonstimu
lated cochlear implantation, and intrascalar neomycin infusion. Comput
er image analysis was used to measure the area of labeled bone on repr
esentative mid-modiolar histologic sections. The amount of bone deposi
tion was greatest in ears treated with intracochlear neomycin (mean =
2.3835 mm2, SD = 3.7308). Surgical trauma alone (mean = 0.9549 mm2, SD
= 1.384) and chronic implantation without stimulation did not produce
substantial bone growth when compared to contralateral control ears (
mean = 0.0574 mm2, SD = 0.0731). Fluorochrome labeling was also used t
o differentiate types of bone deposition. The morphology and timing of
new bone growth appeared to be related to the type of cochlear injury
. These results confirm that intracochlear neomycin may contribute to
osteoneogenesis in animal studies of cochlear implantation. This study
supports the use of fluorescent bone labeling in the evaluation of co
chlear osteoneogenesis.