Compartment analysis of the potassium fluxes in the cochlea.

The results obtained from tracer kinetics, measured by Konishi et al. (1978) and June (1979), are combined to construct a two-compartment model of the guinea-pig cochlea. The potassium fluxes are calculated using a mathematical two-compartment theory. For the basal turn, one finds a circulating flux between the endolymphatic and perilymphatic spaces of 190 pMol/min and 1 mm cochlea, whereas a minor value of 100 pmol/min/mm is calculated for the flux from the perilymphatic scales out of the cochlea.