Electron microscopic and immunomorphological investigations on the mucosa of the human paranasal sinuses.

The morphology of the mucosa from the human paranasal sinuses was investigated by electron microscopy. A total of 27 specimens was taken from 11 patients following midfacial fractures. All tissue samples were biopsied during surgery after informed consent had been given. In accordance with light microscopic investigations, the mucosa represented a highly prismatic epithelium consisting of kinocilia-carrying and mucus-producing (goblet) cells. Other cell types, such as those occurring in the respiratory epithelium of other areas, could not be demonstrated. Electron microscopic and immunomorphological investigations revealed collagen type VII beneath the lamina densa of the basal lamina. According to findings obtained to date, this collagen type accompanies only a multilayered epithelium. Another peculiarity was the small number of basophils and eosinophils. Pronounced acute reactions of the mucosa in this area cannot be expected, which is in contrast to that of the nasal mucosa.