Abstract
The sensory end-organs responsible for hearing and balance in the mammalian inner ear are connected via a small membranous duct known as the ductus reuniens (also known as the reuniting duct (DR)). The DR serves as a vital nexus linking the hearing and balance systems by providing the only endolymphatic connection between the cochlea and vestibular labyrinth. Recent studies have hypothesized new roles of the DR in inner ear function and disease, but a lack of knowledge regarding its 3D morphology and spatial configuration precludes testing of such hypotheses. We reconstructed the 3D morphology of the DR and surrounding anatomy using osmium tetroxide micro-computed tomography and digital visualizations of three human inner ear specimens. This provides a detailed, quantitative description of the DR’s morphology, spatial relationships to surrounding structures, and an estimation of its orientation relative to head position. Univariate measurements of the DR, inner ear, and cranial planes were taken using the software packages 3D Slicer and Zbrush. The DR forms a narrow, curved, flattened tube varying in lumen size, shape, and wall thickness, with its middle third being the narrowest. The DR runs in a shallow bony sulcus superior to the osseus spiral lamina and adjacent to a ridge of bone that we term the “crista reuniens” oriented posteromedially within the cranium. The DR’s morphology and structural configuration relative to surrounding anatomy has important implications for understanding aspects of inner ear function and disease, particularly after surgical alteration of the labyrinth and potential causative factors for Ménière’s disease.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the facilities and the scientific and technical assistance of Microscopy Australia at the Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis at the University of Sydney. We also thank the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany (Director Prof. Dr. med. Heike Kielstein) for providing the temporal bone specimen for Fig. 8. CT scan data of human crania used for Group 2 were provided by Dr. Ashley Hammond and Dr. Sergio Almécija, with the resources and coordination of the American Museum of Natural History’s Microscopy and Imaging Facility. In particular, we thank Morgan Chase, Andrew Smith, and Alisha Anaya for assistance during scanning.
Funding
This work was supported by an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (award #: 2051335); the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation; the Graduate Center, City University of New York; the Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology.
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Personal Consultancies: AudioCure Pharma GmbH, Berlin, Germany.
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Institutional research collaborations: MEDEL, Austria; Cochlear, Australia; Oticon Medical, Denmark; Schwabe Arzneimittel, Germany.
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Honorary for Lectures or Session Moderations: Infectopharm, Germany; Merck Serono, Darmstadt, Germany; Schwabe Arzneimittel, Germany
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Smith, C.M., Curthoys, I.S., Plontke, S.K. et al. Insights into Inner Ear Function and Disease Through Novel Visualization of the Ductus Reuniens, a Seminal Communication Between Hearing and Balance Mechanisms. JARO 23, 633–645 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-022-00858-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-022-00858-y