Title and Copyright:
Nasal Valve, ©2004.

Media:
Pen and ink illustration finished in Adobe Photoshop.

Collaborator:
Robert Kern, MD. Department of Otolaryngology– Head and Neck Surgery, Northwestern University; Chicago, Illinois.

Description:
The nasal valve is the mobile, airflow-regulating part of the nose that serves as the bridge between the bony skeleton and the nasal tip. This valve is the narrowest part of the nasal airway and poses the greatest resistance to nasal airflow. The nasal valve includes the area between the caudal end of the upper lateral cartilages and the superior septum. These segments usually form an angle of 10 to 15 degrees. The nasal valve region is bordered superolaterally by the caudal edge of the upper lateral cartilage. The lateral border includes the bony piriform aperture and the fibrofatty tissue of the ala. The nasal valve ends inferiorly at the nasal floor. Finally, the head of the inferior turbinate forms the posterior limit of the nasal valve

Published as:
Walsh WE, Kern RC. Sinonasal anatomy, function and evaluation. In: Bailey BJ, Johnson JT, eds. Head & Neck Surgery– Otolaryngology, 4th Ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (in press).