Maxillary hiatus

Maxillary hiatus
Medial wall of left orbit.
Left maxilla. Nasal surface.
Details
Identifiers
Latin	hiatus maxillaris
TA98	A02.1.12.021
TA2	778
FMA	57758
Anatomical terminology

Below the bulla ethmoidalis, and partly hidden by the inferior end of the uncinate process of ethmoid bone, is the maxillary hiatus (or ostium maxillare, or maxillary sinus ostium, or maxillary ostium, or opening from the maxillary sinus); in a frontal section this opening is seen to be placed near the roof of the sinus. In the articulated skull this aperture is much reduced in size by the following bones: the uncinate process of the ethmoid above, the ethmoidal process of the inferior nasal concha below, the vertical part of the palatine behind, and a small part of the lacrimal above and in front; the sinus communicates with the middle meatus of the nose, generally by two small apertures left between the above-mentioned bones.

Additional images

• 
  Ethmoid bone

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 995 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)