Dynamic response of cochlear blood flow to occlusion of anterior inferior cerebellar artery in guinea pigs

In this study we investigated the autoregulation and hemodynamics of cochlear blood flow (CBF) as measured by laser-Doppler flowmetry. When the anterior inferior cerebellar artery was clamped, CBF decreased ~40% (not to 'biological zero'), followed by a gradual increase. When the clamp was released, CBF quickly increased to as much as 167% of the baseline level and then slowly returned to baseline. We assume that the dynamic CBF response to anterior inferior cerebellar artery clamping reflects primarily a combination of passive elastic properties of the cochlear vessels and active autoregulatory mechanisms. The decrease portion of the negative phase and the increase portion of the positive phase reflect mainly passive behavior, static compliance, and resistance of vessels, whereas the slow exponential negative and positive changes indicate an active response of vessels: an autoregulatory mechanism based on compensatory vascular dilation and constriction. Our preliminary data show a very strong CBF autoregulatory response to a change in intravascular pressure. Sympathetic stimulation can enhance this autoregulation, and CO₂ inhalation promotes compensatory dilation and inhibits compensatory vascular constriction.