Perilymphatic and endolymphatic PO2. Variations during anoxia, hyperoxia, and hypercapnia.

Cochlear microcirculation was studied with oxygen-sensitive microelectrodes simultaneously in all three scalas during anoxia, hyperoxia, and hypercapnia. The anoxia caused a sharp decline of Po2 in the scala media (SM), scala vestibuli (SV), and scala tympani (ST). Hyperoxia and hypercapnia resulted in an elevation of Po2 in all three scalas. During anoxia, the SM showed the earliest and largest decline in Po2, with the shortest recovery and reoxygenation time. When Po2 slopes (during anoxia) were compared, the SM to ST and the SM to SV were substantially different and remained different even when the partial pressures of oxygen quantified as oxygen in nanomoles. Our experiments also showed that changes in Po2 within the SM closely correlate with changes of endocochlear potential and BP.