Eighteen hundred years of controversy: The paranasal sinuses,

Abstract

The reason for the presence of the paranasal sinuses has been a controversial subject since the time of Galen, 13CL201 A.D. In a review of the literature, the diversity of the numerous functions ascribed to these air-filled cavities was found to be astounding. Many functions were ascribed only on the basis of opinion rather than scientific investigation and recent studies have illustrated the fallacy of these opinions. To date, not one proposed function has been universally accepted to be the essential reason for their existence.This review of the literature deals mainly with those theories of anatomical and physiological significance of the paranasal sinuses having received the most consideration and many of which are currently considered tenable. These are, as follows: (1) impart resonance to the voice; (2) humidify and warm inspired air; (3) increase the area of the olfactory membrane; (4) absorb shock applied to the head for protection of sensory organs; (5) secrete mucus for keeping the nasal chambers moist; (6) thermally insulate the nervous centers; (7) aid facial growth and architecture; (8) exist as evolutionary remains and/or unwanted air spaces; and (9) lighten the bones of the skull for maintenance of proper balance of the head.

Harnessing the Hallowed Hollows of the Head: The Mysterious World of the Paranasal Sinuses

“…And I mean everything. Indeed, the title of a 1969 article on the sinuses was, ''Eighteen hundred years of controversy'' (Blanton and Biggs, 1969). Interestingly, this article itself appears to have been controversial, with the journal inserting an editorial note that some editors wanted it published and others not!…”

“…For example, Berangario da Carpi appears to have been the first to describe the sphenoid sinus (1522); Vesalius himself, ''the father of modern anatomy,'' described the maxillary sinus in the great Fabrica (1543) and may have been the first to note that they contained ''air'' (see Blanton and Biggs, 1969); and Vesalius' dutiful student Fallopius further described the cavities (1561), and his observations that they were not present in the skulls of newborn humans was possibly the first developmental observations regarding the significant age-related appearance of these structures.…”

Anatomía comparada de los senos frontales en el félido dientes de sable primitivo <i>Promegantereon ogygia</i> (Felidae, Machairodontinae) y felinos actuales de tamaño similar

“…The former hypothesis has been convincingly refuted (Proetz, 1953;Blanton & Biggs, 1968;Shea, 1977;Witmer, 1997), whilst the other could be more plausible at least for some groups (Bignon, 1889;Bremer, 1940;Proetz, 1953;Verheyen, 1953;Dyce et al, 1987). In this latter hypothesis, the air chamber formed by the sinus would act as thermal insulator of the central nervous system, and thus the observed differences in relative size and caudal expansion in the frontal sinuses of P. concolor, A. jubatus, P. ogygia and P. pardus would imply differences in the capacity for brain thermal insulation, with P. pardus having the shortest sinus, and thus this function relatively reduced.…”

“…Nevertheless, no one of these hypotheses is completely satisfactory or widely applicable. For example, a function related to respiratory physiology (humidifying and warming the inspired air) has been refuted based on the evidence that the sinus epithelium is almost devoid of glandular tissue and the sinus ostium (the opening that connects a sinus to the nasal cavity itself) is situated out of the path of the respiratory currents (Proetz, 1953;Blanton & Biggs, 1968;Witmer, 1997). The humidification and warming of the inspired air is provided by the epithelium of the maxilloturbinates, which is placed in the line of the respiratory current (Hillenius, 1992).…”

Variant drainage of frontal sinus

“…1 There is two groups of Para nasal sinuses: anterior and posterior. Frontal sinus belongs to the anterior group.…”