Morphometric Characteristics of the Glands of the Mucous Membrane of All the Walls of the Human Frontal Sinus in a Norme

The purpose of the work was to study the microscopic structure of the mucous membrane of all the walls of the frontal sinus of a person in order to obtain morphometric data on its structural components – glands and the submucosal base. Materials and methods. The material for the study was the mucous membrane of the frontal sinus of 110 people who died at the age of 22–86 years from causes not related to the pathology of the paranasal sinuses. Results and discussion. The results of the study showed that the glands in the mucous membranes of all the walls of the frontal sinus are alveolar-tubular in structure. In a morphometric study of such a structural component of the mucous membrane of all the walls of the frontal sinus, as the thickness of the submucosal base, it was shown that the thickest submucosal base is located on the inferior wall (on the left – 423.67 ± 21.33 μm; on the right – 426.45 ± 16.77 μm (p<0.05)) and is four times higher than the average values of thickness on the posterior wall and septum. The outer diameter of the end sections of the glands of septum of the human frontal sinus in a morphometric study averaged 25.42 ± 1.68 μm on the left and 25.89 ± 1.38 μm on the right (p<0.05), that is, the smallest compared to other walls. The values of the average diameter of the end sections of the glands of the mucous membranes of the anterior, inferior, and posterior walls of the frontal sinus probably did not differ between themselves. Conclusion. From the obtained data, it can be clearly seen that the mucous membrane of the inferior wall of the frontal sinus has the greatest functional load, since it has a connection with the nasal cavity in the middle nasal passage. The information obtained in the course of the study significantly expands knowledge about the structure of the human frontal sinus. Digital morphometric (metric) material with statistical processing confirms and complements the differences in the microstructure of the glands of the mucous membrane of the human frontal sinus in general, and separately on each wall, and in comparison with other paranasal sinuses. This is of great importance for modern otorhinolaryngology, since the glands of the mucous membranes of the paranasal sinuses are links of the mucociliary system, and such a process as mucociliary clearance depends on their quality work.