The blood supply to the inner ear is derived from AICA (anterior inferior cerebellar artery), the Superior Cerebellar Artery, and the Basilar artery.
The internal auditory artery (labyrinthine artery) passes with the vestibulocochlear nerve through the internal acoustic meatus, and supplies blood to the inner ear.
There are two divisions:
- Anterior vestibular artery: Anterior (Superior) and Lateral (Horizontal ) semicircular canals, and the utricle
- Common cochlear artery: this divides further into the main cochlear artery and the Posterior vestibular artery which supplies the posterior semicircular canal and the saccule
Figure 1. The blood supply to the vestibular apparatus and the cochlea.
Redrawn from: Neupsy Key. The vestibular system. Retrieved from: https://neupsykey.com/the-vestibular-system-4/