TEMPORAL BONE PATHOLOGY FOLLOWING MATERNAL RUBELLA

The histopathological abnormalities in the temporal bone of a four-month-old infant with positive virus culture and serological data for maternal rubella are presented and discussed. The primary abnormalities of this case were located in the stria vascularis, tectorial membrane, hair cells in Corti's organ and the Sacculus, and similar to the so-called cochleo-saccular degeneration of Scheibe and also those observed in postnatal measles. Additional pathological findings observed in this case were: 1. the specific distribution of the severely-degenerated hair cells in the cochlea, 2. the eosinophilic material in the perilymphatic space most likely coming from vessels in the scala tympani, 3. the slight distortion of the cochlear second turn and Rosenthal's canal, and 4. the stapes anomalies. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.