Nasal meatus
| Nasal meatus | |
|---|---|
 Meatuses shown on lateral wall | |
| Identifiers | |
| FMA | 53146 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
In anatomy, the term nasal meatus[1] can refer to any of the three meatuses (passages) through the skull's nasal cavity: the superior meatus (meatus nasi superior), middle meatus (meatus nasi medius), and inferior meatus (meatus nasi inferior).
The nasal meatuses are the spaces beneath each of the corresponding
Structure
The superior meatus is the smallest of the three. It is a narrow cavity located obliquely below the
The middle meatus is the middle-sized and located nasal opening, lying underneath the middle concha and above the
Through the hiatus semilunaris the meatus communicates with a curved passage termed the infundibulum, which communicates in front with the anterior ethmoidal cells and in rather more than fifty percent of skulls is continued upward as the frontonasal duct into the frontal air-sinus; when this continuity fails, the frontonasal duct opens directly into the anterior part of the meatus.
Below the bulla ethmoidalis and hidden by the uncinate process of the ethmoid is the opening of the maxillary sinus (ostium maxillare); an accessory opening is frequently present above the posterior part of the inferior nasal concha.
The inferior meatus is the largest of the three. It lies below the inferior concha and above the nasal cavity. It extends most of the length of the nasal cavity’s lateral wall. It is broader in the front than at the back, and presents anteriorly the lower orifice of the nasolacrimal canal.
References
This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)
- ISBN 978-0-12-811837-5.
External links
- Anatomy figure: 33:04-12 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
- Atlas image: rsa1p6 at the University of Michigan Health System — Coronal section
