Superior nasal turbinate
Concha nasalis superior
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- What it is
- Superior nasal concha (turbinate): a scroll of thin bone covered by thick, vascular mucosa projecting from the lateral wall of the nasal cavity.
- Function
- Increases the mucosal surface and creates turbulent airflow so inhaled air is warmed, humidified and filtered.
- Size
- The smallest turbinate, part of the ethmoid, about 2 cm long; the posterior ethmoid cells drain beneath it and the sphenoid sinus opens above and behind it.
- Clinical note
- Olfactory epithelium covers its upper surface, next to the cribriform plate.