HISTOPATHOLOGY OF THE NASAL MUCOSA OF OLDER PERSONS

Abstract

The original purpose of this paper was to describe the influence of aging on the nasal mucosa. This purpose has been carried out provided two important factors are taken into consideration: (1) that nearly every elderly person may have experienced several inflammatory attacks on his nasal mucosa during his lifetime; (2) that the material for this study was obtained from cadavers of persons whose fatal diseases may have altered the structure of the nasal mucosa. Obviously, the latter possibility was kept in mind in evaluating the microscopic observations. The inferior turbinates were removed from 23 cadavers of persons between 50 and 90 years of age. The causes of death varied, but in 1 person only was there a nasal disease. That person died from meningitis originating in the sphenoid sinus. Interrupted serial sections were made of the turbinal specimens and prepared for study with hematoxylin-eosin, Van Gieson, Mallory and orcein