Ethmoid bone (Os ethmoidale)
Educational content only — not medical advice.
Anatomy
A delicate unpaired bone between the orbits, contributing the roof and lateral wall of the nasal cavity: a perpendicular plate forms part of the nasal septum, the cribriform plate transmits olfactory nerve fibres, and it carries middle and superior conchae plus ethmoid air cells.
Clinical notes
The cribriform plate is fragile: fracture in nasal trauma may leak cerebrospinal fluid from the nose, and ethmoid sinus surgery can breach the orbital lamina, endangering the optic nerve and eye.
Related structures
Educational references
FAQ
What is the role of the Ethmoid bone?
A delicate unpaired bone between the orbits, contributing the roof and lateral wall of the nasal cavity: a perpendicular plate forms part of the nasal septum, the cribriform plate transmits olfactory nerve fibres, and it carries middle and superior conchae plus ethmoid air cells.
Why is the Ethmoid bone clinically important?
The cribriform plate is fragile: fracture in nasal trauma may leak cerebrospinal fluid from the nose, and ethmoid sinus surgery can breach the orbital lamina, endangering the optic nerve and eye.
Source & license
Derived from Z-Anatomy (Gauthier Kervyn et al.), CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); upstream geometry from BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science. license details