The nose is shaped as a pyramid. The nasal pyramid is an osteocartilaginous structure, covered with soft tissues that include skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscle, and epithelium.
The nose can be divided into three components the bony vault (frontal processes of maxilla and nasal bones), the upper cartilaginous vault (upper lateral cartilages), and the lower cartilaginous vault (medial and lateral crura, alae, alar lobules, nostril vestibules and sills, columella, and membranous septum).
The nasal pyramid has two openings at its base, the external nares. These inlets for the nasal airway admit air into the nasal vestibules, delimited posteriorly by the nasal valves. It is these valvelike structures that control the air flow into the nose through the paired cavities separated in the midline by the nasal septum. The convergence and divergence of the nasal valves open and close the internal nares, thus controlling the air flow into the nasopharyngotracheal airway. A small portion of the nasal mucous near the cribriform plate is specifically olfactory in function.
The anatomy of the nose varies from individual to individual.
The bony portion of the nose is formed by the paired nasal bones; these are joined in the midline and are supported posteriorly by the nasal spine of the frontal bone and laterally by the frontal process of the maxilla. The osseous lateral walls of the nose are formed by the nasal bones and frontal processes of the maxilla (bony vault).
The nasal bones are quadrangular, thick and narrow above and thin and wide below their anterior surface is concave from the above downward in the upper portion, convex from side to side. The thicker and stronger cephalic portion of the basal bones is further reinforced by the nasal spine of the frontal bone, which lends additional support to this part of the bony bridge. The inferior borders of the nasal bones show a concave curve, the lateral portion of each bone extending downward along the edge of the piriform aperture. The frontal process of the maxilla is a plate of bone, thick below and thinner above, which projects upward and medially from the body of the maxilla, forming the edge of the piriform apertur, the lower boundary of the lateral nasal wall.
For more information contact Dr Jay Pensler’s plastic surgery office in Chicago, IL at 312.642.7777 http://cosmeticsurgerychicago.com/nasal.php
