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Early postmortem changes in the Organ of Corti (guinea pig)

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Summary

Early post mortem changes in the Organ of Corti are described. 15 minutes after death, when kept at room temperature, 20° C (63° F), an oedematous swelling is observed within the cytoplasm of hair cells and nerve endings, the latter being more severe affected. After 30 minutes post mortem the mitochondria of the hair cells have also become significantly swollen. Three hours post mortem the general character of the hair cells is still recognizable, but most of the nerve endings have been completely destroyed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Karolinska Sjukhuset, Sweden

    J. Wersäll, R. Kimura & P. -G. Lundquist

  2. King Gustav V Research Institute, Stockholm 60

    J. Wersäll, R. Kimura & P. -G. Lundquist

Authors
  1. J. Wersäll
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  2. R. Kimura
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  3. P. -G. Lundquist
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Acknowledgement. We wish to express our appreciation of the skilful technical assistance of Mrs. B. Flock, Miss A.-M. Lundberg, Miss Sonja Löfvenius, Mr. G. Bornholm and Mr. Rune Ragnefjell.

This work was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council, the National Institute of Health grant (no NB 03956-02), the Therese and Johan Anderssons minne, the Gustav and Tyra Svenssons fund and the King Gustav V Research Fund.

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Wersäll, J., Kimura, R. & Lundquist, P.G. Early postmortem changes in the Organ of Corti (guinea pig). Zeitschrift für Zellforschung 65, 220–237 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400118

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400118

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