title: The olfactory fascia: an evo-devo concept of the fibrocartilaginous nose.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evo-devo is the science that studies the link between evolution of species and embryological development. This concept helps to understand the complex anatomy of the human nose. The evo-devo theory suggests the persistence in the adult of an anatomical entity, the olfactory fascia, that unites the cartilages of the nose to the olfactory mucosa.
  
  
  METHODS
  We dissected two fresh specimens. After resecting the superficial tissues of the nose, dissection was focused on the disarticulation of the fibrocartilaginous noses from the facial and skull base skeleton.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Dissection shows two fibrocartilaginous sacs that were invaginated side-by-side in the midface and attached to the anterior skull base. These membranous sacs were separated in the midline by the perpendicular plate of the ethmoid. Their walls contained the alar cartilages and the lateral expansions of the septolateral cartilage, which we had to separate from the septal cartilage. The olfactory mucosa was located inside their cranial ends.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The olfactory fascia is a continuous membrane uniting the nasal cartilages to the olfactory mucosa. Its origin can be found in the invagination and differentiation processes of the olfactory placodes. The fibrous portions of the olfactory fascia may be described as ligaments that unit the different components of the olfactory fascia one to the other and the fibrocartilaginous nose to the facial and skull base skeleton. The basicranial ligaments, fixing the fibrocartilaginous nose to the skull base, represent key elements in the concept of septorhinoplasty by disarticulation.
authors.affiliation: ORL Department, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Batiment Louis Mathieu, Rue du Morvan, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jankowski
authors.affiliation: ORL Department, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Batiment Louis Mathieu, Rue du Morvan, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rumeau
authors.affiliation: ORL Department, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Batiment Louis Mathieu, Rue du Morvan, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Théophile
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Saint Hilaire
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 54035, Nancy, France.|Department of Anatomy, Pr M Braun, Faculty of Medicine of Nancy, 9 Avenue de la Foret de Haye CS50184, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tonnelet
authors.affiliation: ORL Department, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Batiment Louis Mathieu, Rue du Morvan, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Duc Trung
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: ORL Department, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Batiment Louis Mathieu, Rue du Morvan, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallet
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Pr M Braun, Faculty of Medicine of Nancy, 9 Avenue de la Foret de Haye CS50184, 54500, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France. m.perez@chu-nancy.fr.|General and Emergency Surgery Department, Pr Grosdidier, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire, Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 54035, Nancy, France. m.perez@chu-nancy.fr.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002102:Cadaver; D015509:Developmental Biology; D004210:Dissection; D005004:Ethmoid Bone / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005205:Fascia / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D006801:Humans; D055171:Nasal Cartilages / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D009831:Olfactory Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000196:embryology; D012225:Rhinoplasty / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Evo–devo concept; Nasal pyramid; Nose anatomy; Olfactory fascia; Septorhinoplasty