The surgeon's view of the anterior ethmoid artery

Abstract

The position of the anterior ethmoidal artery is very variable. The artery is found between the second and third lamella. When the ethmoid sinuses are more pneumatised and in particular when there is a supraorbital cell, the artery lies below the skull base. A good strategy is to identify the degree of pneumatisation of the ethmoid sinuses from CT scans preoperatively to see if the artery is at an increased risk of being damaged.