| Nasal concha/turbinate | |
|---|---|
 Lateral wall of nasal cavity, showing ethmoid bone in position. (Superior and middle in pink, and inferior in blue.) | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | conchae nasales |
| MeSH | D014420 |
| FMA | 57456 |
| Anatomical terms of bone | |
In anatomy, a nasal concha (/ˈkɒnkə/; pl.: conchae; /ˈkɒnkiː/; Latin for 'shell'), also called a nasal turbinate or turbinal,[1][2] is a long, narrow, curled shelf of bone that protrudes into the breathing passage of the nose in humans and various other animals. The conchae are shaped like an elongated seashell, which gave them their name (Latin concha from Greek κόγχη). A concha is any of the scrolled spongy bones of the nasal passages in vertebrates.[3]
In humans, the conchae divide the nasal airway into four groove-like air passages, and are responsible for forcing inhaled air to flow in a steady, regular pattern around the largest possible surface area of nasal mucosa. As a ciliated mucous membrane with shallow blood supply, the nasal mucosa cleans, humidifies and warms the inhaled air in preparation for the lungs.
A rapidly dilating arteriolar circulation to these bones may lead to a sharp increase in the pressure within, in response to acute cooling of the body core. The pain from this pressure is often referred to as "brain freeze", and is frequently associated with the rapid consumption of ice cream. The shallowness of the venous blood supply of the mucosa contributes to the ease with which nosebleed can occur.
- ^ Maynard, Robert Lewis; Downes, Noel (2019). "Nasal Cavity". Anatomy and Histology of the Laboratory Rat in Toxicology and Biomedical Research. Elsevier. pp. 109–121. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-811837-5.00010-1. ISBN 978-0-12-811837-5.
In man, the three conchae define the meatuses: Inferior meatus: between inferior concha/turbinate and floor of nasal cavity; Middle meatus: between middle concha/turbinate and inferior concha; Superior meatus: between superior concha/turbinate and middle concha.
- ^ Carlson, Bruce M. (2019). "The Respiratory System". The Human Body. Elsevier. pp. 303–319. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-804254-0.00011-9. ISBN 978-0-12-804254-0. S2CID 79294211.
- ^ Anatomy of the Human Body Archived 2013-01-21 at the Wayback Machine Gray, Henry (1918) The Nasal Cavity.