Corpus: Frontal sinus

The term frontal sinus, Latin sinus frontalis', refers to a paranasal sinus in domestic mammals.

The frontal sinus is formed between the outer and inner lamella of the frontal bone (Os frontale). In horses it completely hollows out the frontal bone, whereas in carnivores and small ruminants it usually leaves the caudal quarter of the bone exposed.

In horses, the frontal sinus merges with the dorsal conchal sinus to form the so-called frontal conchal sinus (sinus conchofrontalis).

Species-specific features can also be found in cattle and pigs. The frontal sinuses of these animals are not limited to the frontal bone. Rather, it penetrates caudally via the parietal bone (Os parietale) and the interparietal bone (Os interparietale) into the occipital bone (Os occipitale) and laterally via the parietal bone into the temporal bone scale (Pars squamosa ossis temporalis). In horn-bearing ruminants (e.g. chamois), the frontal sinus also pneumatises the cornual process of the frontal bone.

In all domestic mammals, the septa sinuum frontalium separate the individual cavities from each other. To stabilise the bone walls, so-called lamellae intrasinuales are also formed, which separate the different compartments from each other.

• Nickel, Richard, August Schummer, Eugen Seiferle. Volume I: Musculoskeletal system. Textbook of the anatomy of domestic animals. Parey, 2004
• Breit, Sabine, Künzel, Wolfgang. Structure and function of the respiratory organs, heart, circulation and lymphatic organs (respiratory organs). SS 2015