Experiments on cochlear cryosurgery in the guinea pig.

A method to induce experimental cochlear lesions with cryosurgery is described. Using temperatures on the cochlear surface ranging from 0 degrees C-50 degrees C, lesions were made from the apical turn and down to 8 mm from the round window area. There were no signs of labyrinthine fistula and the remaining parts of the organ of Corti were normal in appearance. The correlation of intracochlear temperature with the spread of anatomical damage is described. It is suggested that this method can be used to achieve non-invasive selective cochlear lesions. With this method it is probably possible to induce sensory-neural lesions not only in the high frequency region of hearing, but also in the middle and low frequency regions.