A morphological study of the human epipharyngeal mucosa

Abstract

The epipharynx lies between the nasal cavity and oropharynx. The mucosa of the epithelium in the human epipharynx is composed of ciliated epithelium as part of the respiratory tract, squamous epithelium as representative of the digestive system and transitional epithelium. Previous studies by Ali have shown that transitional epithelium is present in a boundary line between the epipharynx and oropharynx, with numerous islets of the epithelium also located in the lateral and dorsal walls accompanied with a patchy distribution of the ciliated and squamous epithelium. Mechanical irritation caused by the anatomical properties of the epipharynx is thought to be responsible for the morphological findings present. We studied the distribution of the three different types of epithelia in the epipharynx in ten autopsy cases. Our data revealed that they showed mosaic or an “island-like” distribution on the epipharyngeal wall and their patterns of distribution were variable in each individual.