Postnatal presence of paraseptal cartilages in humans: a description of morphology and size

Paraseptal cartilages (PCs) have been the subject of controversy, in that s ome authors believe them to be absent or rarely present, while others have described them to exist at predictable locations in adult human tissue spec imens. This study seeks to determine the presence or absence of PCs in huma ns and describe their morphology and size. Nasal septal tissue from 19 adul ts and 1 child were paraffin embedded, coronally sectioned. placed on slide s, and stained For microscopic observation. For all specimens, PCs were ide ntified and lengths were calculated. Selected PCs were also digitized in or der to calculate volume. Results demonstrated that PCs were present in all 20 tissue specimens and assumed a common morphology. In each, PCs were foun d to begin as hyaline cartilage lobes that extend projections in a superola teral direction as an anteroposterior course is followed. The projections w ere found to rotate inferiorly until each PC was found to assume a position that extended below the nasal septum. Length measures in adults ranged fro m 8,725 to 19,000 mu m (x = 14,188.9 mu m) and volumes ranged from 7.7 to 2 4.2 (x = 13.2) x 10(-3) mi. A quantitative comparison to foetal data from a previous study suggests prenatal and/or postnatal growth of PCs. Results f rom this study support the presence of PCs in adult humans as well as prena tal/postnatal growth of PCs.