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Concept
Paranasal sinuses
Summary
Paranasal sinuses are a group of four paired air-filled spaces that surround the nasal cavity. The maxillary sinuses are located under the eyes; the frontal sinuses are above the eyes; the ethmoidal sinuses are between the eyes and the sphenoidal sinuses are behind the eyes. The sinuses are named for the facial bones and sphenoid bone in which they are located. Their role is disputed and no function has been confirmed.
Humans possess four pairs of paranasal sinuses, divided into subgroups that are named according to the bones within which the sinuses lie. They are all innervated by branches of the trigeminal nerve (CN V).
The maxillary sinuses, the largest of the paranasal sinuses, are under the eyes, in the maxillary bones (open in the back of the semilunar hiatus of the nose). They are innervated by the maxillary nerve (CN V2).
The frontal sinuses, superior to the eyes, in the frontal bone, which forms the hard part of the forehead. They are innervated by the ophthalmic nerve (CN V1).
The ethmoidal sinuses, which are formed from several discrete air cells within the ethmoid bone between the nose and the eyes. They are innervated by the ethmoidal nerves, which branch from the nasociliary nerve of the ophthalmic nerve (CN V1).
The sphenoidal sinuses, in the sphenoid bone. They are innervated by the ophthalmic and maxillary nerve (CN V1 and V2).
The paranasal sinuses are lined with respiratory epithelium (ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium).
One known function of the paranasal sinuses is the production of nitric oxide, which also functions as a facilitator of oxygen uptake.
Paranasal sinuses form developmentally through excavation of bone by air-filled sacs (pneumatic diverticula) from the nasal cavity. This process begins prenatally (intrauterine life), and it continues through the course of an organism's lifetime.
The results of experimental studies suggest that the natural ventilation rate of a sinus with a single sinus ostium (opening) is extremely slow.
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