Lateral wall of nasal cavity, showing ethmoid bone in position. (Superior and middle in pink, and inferior in blue.)
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|Latin
|colspan="2"|conchae nasales
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|Precursor
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|MeSH
|colspan="2"|[A02.835.232.781.324.948]
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|Dorlands/Elsevier
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The nasal conchae are three thin bony plates on the lateral wall of the nasal fossa on each side with or without their covering of mucous membrane. They are also called turbinates.
The inferior nasal concha is the largest of the three. It is a curved bony plate which separates the inferior and middle meatuses of the nose. It is also called the inferior concha, the inferior turbinate, the inferior turbinate bone, or the maxilloturbinal.
The middle nasal concha is the lower of two thin bony processes of the ethmoid bone on the lateral wall of each nasal fossa. It separates the superior and middle meatuses of the nose. It is also called the middle concha, the middle turbinate, the middle turbinate bone, or the nasoturbinal.
The superior nasal concha is the upper of two thin bony processes of the ethmoid bone on the lateral wall of each nasal fossa. It forms the upper boundary of the superior meatus of the nose. It is also called the superior concha, the superior turbinate, or the superior turbinate bone.
There are many common procedures for the reduction in volume of the inferior nasal concha or the middle nasal concha. However, too much resection of either of these conchae may lead to total nasal dysfunction known as Empty nose syndrome.
