OS 204: Nose and Paranasal Sinuses
Lecturer: Dr. Ryner Jose D. Carrillo
I. EXTERNAL NOSE
 Function of Cartilages
 Keeps the nose patent, therefore the nose is always open
to be able to breathe via the nose
II. INTERNAL NOSE
A. INFERIOR VIEW OF NASAL CAVITY
 Nasal cavity
 Entered anteriorly through the nares, and opens
posteriorly into the nasopharynx through the choanae
 Lined by mucosa, except for the nasal vestibule
 Nasal mucosa
 Firmly bound to the periosteum and perichondrium of
supporting bones and cartilages of the nose
 Inferior 2/3: respiratory area
 Air passing is warmed and moistened here before it
passes through the rest of the upper respiratory tract
 Superior 2/3: olfactory area
 Contains the peripheral organ of smell; sniffing draws air
to the area
 Nasal vestibule
 Narrowest part of nasal cavity, therefore this area has the
highest turbulent flow; exposed to elements
 Contains a variable number of stiff hairs (vibrissae), which
are usually moist → useful for filtering dust particles
B. MEDIAL NASAL WALL
 Why is there a need for two nasal cavities?
 Backup system when one nose constricts during the nasal
cycle (more common during cold weather)
C. LATERAL NASAL WALL
 Concha (superior, middle and inferior nasal concha)
Notes by Carlo Miguel B. Barrios, UPCM 2025
Topic 7
26 Feb 2021
 Highly convoluted, scroll-like structures that offer a vast
surface area for heat exchange
 Lined with mucous blanket (ciliated pseudostratified
squamous epi.) to trap particles from the environment
 Provides lateral flow of air
 Inferior concha: longest and broadest of the conchae and
is formed by an independent bone covered by a mucous
membrane that contains large vascular spaces that can
enlarge, affecting the caliber of the nasal cavity
 Middle & superior concha: medial processes of ethmoid
 Nasal meatus: underlies each of the bony formations
III. PARANASAL SINUSES
 Order of dev’t: maxillary → ethmoidal → frontal → sphenoidal
 Frontal sinus
 Drain through a frontonasal duct into the ethmoidal
infundibulum, which opens into the semilunar hiatus
 Ethmoidal cells (N: nasocilary n., V1, ethmoidal branches)
 Anterior: drain directly into the middle nasal meatus via the
ethmoidal infundibulum
 Middle: open directly into the middle meatus
 Posterior: open directly into the superior meatus
 Sphenoid sinus: derived from posterior ethmoidal cells that
begins to invade the sphenoid at 2 years of age
 Maxillary sinus: largest of the paranasal sinuses
 Drained by the maxillary ostium, into the middle nasal
meatus of the nasal cavity by way of the semilunar hiatus
IV. NEUROVASCULATURE
A. ARTERIAL SUPPLY
 Kiesselbach area
 Anterior part of the nasal septum that is the site of an
anastomotic arterial plexus involving all five arteries
supplying the septum
 Watershed area that is prone to epistaxis
B. INNERVATION
OS 204: Nose and Paranasal Sinuses Topic 7
Lecturer: Dr. Ryner Jose D. Carrillo 26 Feb 2021

Notes by Carlo Miguel B. Barrios, UPCM 2025