Chapter 3. NOSE AND PARANASAL SINUSES DISEASES

A bunch of dry steppe grass... I feel its fragrance, although it is dry!

For it reveals a full smell Of steppe at once... A. Maykov

3.1. NOSE AND PARANASAL SINUSES CLINICAL ANATOMY

The upper respiratory tract includes the nose, paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. The nose (nasus) is the initial part of the respiratory tract; the peripheral part of olfactory system is located in the nasal cavity. Inclinical anatomy, nose is separated into the external and internal nose (or nasal cavity).

External Nose Clinical Anatomy

The external nose (nasus externus) consists of an osteocartilaginous structure covered with skin and has a shape of a triangular pyramid its base directed downward (fig. 3.1, a-c). The upper part of the external nose, which joins thefrontal bone, is called the root of the nose (radix nasi); it continues into the nasal dorsum (dorsum nasi) and finishes on the tip of the nose (apex nasi). The lateral surfaces of the nose, flexible in the tip area, represent the wings of the nose (alae nasi), and their free edges form the entrance of the nose, or nostrils (nares), separated one form another by a moving part of the nasal septum (septum mobile nasi).

The bony part of the nose frame consists of a pair of flat nasal bones (ossa na-salia) making the nasal dorsum. Frontal process of the maxilla (processus frontalis maxillae) is placed laterally to the nasal bones on the both sides together with cartilaginous part of the external nose forming the lateral nasal walls and nasal crest. In the anterior part, these bones, together with the anterior nasal spine, form a pyriform aperture (apertura piriformis) of the facial skeleton.

Fig. 3.1. External nose: a-frontal view; b - lateral view; c - nasal vestibule; 1 - nasal bones; 2 - frontal process of the maxilla; 3 - lateral processes of the septal nasal cartilage; 4 - major alar cartilage; 5 - medial crus; 6 - lateral crus; 7 - septum cartilage