FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY OF NASAL BLOOD-VESSELS IN HUMANS

''Secretion'' and ''obstruction'' as predominant clinical symptoms in rhinology affect a great number of patients with disorders of the nose . According to clinical experience as well as morphological investigat ions, the endonasal vascular system is most likely to be involved in t hese functional mechanisms. In the present study, we report morphologi cal findings on the angioarchitecture of human nasal mucosa. Meticulou s investigation of the structure and ultrastructure of nasal mucosal c apillaries revealed differences in the appearance of the endothelial l ining. Especially the morphological feature of attenuated fenestrated endothelia in these vessels might be correlated with the functional be haviour under various physiological and pathological conditions. Inspe ction of the vascular wall of nasal swell bodies revealed differences in the orientation as well as the shape of muscle cells in different p arts of this vascular system. The functional role of special morpholog ical features known as muscular bolsters and intervascular muscle fibr es for the swelling mechanism of the nasal mucosa is emphasized. Our r esults enabled us to define the muscular structures that are most prob ably responsible for constriction and dilatation of nasal swell bodies .